Skip to main content
This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.
A campaign seeking to enshrine abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender rights in the Oregon Constitution abruptly pulled the plug Feb. 6 on its effort to qualify for the November ballot.
The campaign for Initiative Petition 33, also called the Equal Rights for All measure, kicked off in June 2024 with significant fanfare. The campaign, which included such groups as the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon, the Latino Network and Planned Parenthood Action Oregon, sought to cement into the state constitution the principle that equal rights “shall not be denied or abridged” based on “a) pregnancy/pregnancy outcomes and related health decisions; b) gender identity and related decisions; c) sexual orientation including the right to marry.”
Such rights already exist in Oregon statutes, but after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, advocates in Oregon pledged to seek stronger legal protections for those rights by excising language from the state’s constitution that currently defines marriage as a legal arrangement only between a man and a woman and, in the words of the campaign, by guaranteeing “the right to make private, personal decisions about reproductive and gender-related health care, including abortion and health care for transgender people.”
Despite Oregonians’ broad support for abortion and same-sex marriage, however, the campaign struggled.
The Equal Rights for All campaign began submitting signatures in May 2025 but ultimately turned in just 12,402 signatures through the end of January, according to the Oregon Elections Division’s signature log. That’s fewer than 10% of the 156,231 signatures required to qualify for the ballot. (The campaign claimed on Feb. 6 that it had gathered “over 52,000 qualification signatures,” but for whatever reason, the campaign never submitted most of those signatures.) The campaign also reported expenditures of more than $1.3 million.
The Oregon Journalism Project highlighted the campaign’s struggles on Jan. 28, contrasting the measure’s apparent difficulty in garnering signatures with the relative success of a radical animal rights measure. They were the only two ballot initiatives that had begun submitting signatures to the Elections Division in order to qualify for the November ballot.
At the time, IP 33 staff declined to answer OJP’s questions about the campaign’s progress, but pollster John Horvick of DHM Research in Portland noted that polling showed Oregonians felt some ambivalence about transgender rights. About a year ago, Horvick told OJP, DHM polled Oregonians on a variety of issues. “Of the issues we asked about, Oregonians said transgender issues were the least important to them,” Horvick said. “That may speak to the difficulty of gathering signatures.”
Equal Rights for All said late Friday afternoon that it would abandon its campaign. “We acknowledge the fear, sadness, and anger that this decision may cause, especially for members of the trans, LGBTQ+, and reproductive rights communities,” the campaign said.
“This is a particularly difficult time, as the federal government attacks our rights, freedom, and basic humanity. However, members of our coalition are committed to continuing to fight back, while also holding the decision that IP 33 is not the vehicle for the fight at this time.”
