WASHINGTON ― Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) is in one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country, fighting to keep her seat in a tight race against Democrat Janelle Bynum as House Republicans appear on the verge of losing their majority in November.
So people were certainly paying attention when, during a Tuesday night debate, she charged Bynum with telling an “outright lie” that she has supported a so-called “heartbeat bill,” legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
“Where I think Rep. Chavez-DeRemer fails us is that she promised to uphold Roe and then yet she has voted 13 times on bills that essentially would pass a national abortion ban,” Bynum said during the debate. “She’s also supported the heartbeat bill.”
“That’s a lie,” Chavez-DeRemer interjected.
When it was her turn to speak, she pushed back some more.
“That’s just an outright lie,” said the Republican congresswoman. “There was no vote on any heartbeat bill, so I don’t know what she’s talking about there.”
Heartbeat bills, which Republicans have introduced in various states and in Congress, get their name from abortion opponents who claim, falsely, that a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected at six weeks of pregnancy. In fact, a six-week embryo has not even developed a heart yet and those sounds are more likely from an ultrasound machine translating electronic impulses, per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Chavez-DeRemer’s response to Bynum’s claim was deceptive; she said she hadn’t voted for a heartbeat bill, which is different from supporting one. But Chavez-DeRemer did support a heartbeat bill — her endorsement of it is still public and easy for anyone to see.
“A vast majority of Americans want restrictions on abortion and I would be in favor of passing legislation like the heartbeat bill,” Chavez-DeRemer tweeted in May 2022. She linked to a Salem Statesman Journal story about Oregon candidates weighing in on abortion laws.
HuffPost was unable to find any contacts for Chavez-DeRemer’s campaign, or any way to contact them on her website. Top aides in her congressional office did not respond to requests for comment on why she claimed it was false that she supported a six-week abortion ban.
The Oregon Republican did not co-sponsor the heartbeat bill in the current Congress. She has voted for bills that restrict abortion access, though.
In one case, she voted to block the government from reimbursing people in the military who had to travel in order to get an abortion. In another case, she voted for legislation to impose fines or jail time on doctors who don’t provide care to infants in the exceedingly rare case of a fetus being born alive after a failed abortion. This bill was strongly opposed by reproductive health experts, who warned its real intent was to stigmatize health care and restrict abortion access.
Curiously, just five months after her tweet, Chavez-DeRemer was already trying to walk back her support for a six-week abortion ban.
In a testy October 2022 interview with a local TV anchor, Laural Porter of KGW News, Chavez-DeRemer stumbled over questions about the heartbeat bill.
“Do you stand by that support for the heartbeat bill?” Porter asked, referencing her May 2022 tweet.
“Well, there was a conversation about what could this look like if we had to have this conversation. And I know that there’s been conversation about the pain bill, there’s been conversations about the 24-week, when a child, baby, cannot survive without the mom. And there’s all those conversations,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “I think the exact thing that should be, should be right here in the hands of Oregonians. And that’s where I would like to keep it and not have it on the floor of Congress.”
After that incredible word salad, Porter said she was “not quite understanding what you’re saying” and asked again if she thinks abortion should be banned after six weeks. Chavez-DeRemer responded by saying she wouldn’t support a federal abortion ban and then suggested she would support a 12-week abortion ban in the state.
“Would you ever support a ban on abortion at six weeks or after?” asked Porter.
“I think women should have access up until the first trimester,” replied Chavez-DeRemer.
“All the way up till 12 weeks,” said Porter.
“Yes, the first trimester,” said Chavez-DeRemer.
“So you changed your mind on what you tweeted?” asked Porter.
“No, I did not change my mind. I have always felt this way,” the Oregon Republican said. “That question was asked on a conversation about if this ever came to the floor, of six weeks, what is the conversation look like.”
Porter, again, brought up her tweet in support of the heartbeat bill and said it seems “different than what you’re saying now.”
“No. No. It’s not different,” insisted Chavez-DeRemer. “My position has never changed, Laurel.”
“Just up to 12 weeks?” said Porter.
“Yes,” replied Chavez-DeRemer. “I think women, women have asked that access. I trust women. I trust Oregonians to make that decision.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s seat is considered a “toss-up,” per The Cook Political Report. She is essentially tied in the polls with Bynum, who has been leading by 1 or 2 points, per the polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
Former Democrat Rep. Kurt Schrader held this House seat for 14 years, until 2022, when he lost the primary to a progressive challenger, Jamie McLeod-Skinner. She subsequently lost the general election to Chavez-DeRemer.
Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum are set to debate again Thursday night.