FILE – The rainbow flag, also known as the gay pride flag, is a symbol of LGBT and queer pride, left, along with the transgender flag, right, pictured in 2022.

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

A coalition led by the ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and Planned Parenthood has announced it is ending a campaign to amend the Oregon Constitution to guarantee the right to health care for transgender people, abortion and same-sex marriage.

Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights in Oregon had hoped to follow the lead of New York state, which passed a similar measure, Proposition 1, by a wide margin in 2024. They’ve been gathering signatures to qualify an initiative for the November ballot, promoting the measure at Pride events, and raising money.

But on Friday, the coalition announced via an Instagram post that the campaign is over. The coalition thanked community members for their support. It did not offer any explanation as to what led to the change of heart.

“This is a particularly difficult time, as the federal government continues attacking our rights, freedom, and basic humanity,” the post concludes. “We still firmly believe that together, we will build an Oregon where all of us can be who we are, and make our own decisions about our lives and bodies, and access the care that we need.”

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The initiative petition had been endorsed by dozens of left-leaning organizations, including heavyweight labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU Local 503.

Campaign finance records show the coalition’s biggest cash expenditures this year — $177,750 — were for polling and surveys.

The measure, known as Equal Rights for All or Initiative 33, had already faced a rocky path to the ballot. Democratic lawmakers had planned to refer it to voters in 2024, but dropped that plan in a deal to end a six-week long walkout by Republicans.

The political action committee supporting the measure has about $130,000 in cash remaining in its accounts.

Oregon law is already protective of gender-affirming care, requiring insurers and the state’s Medicaid program to cover it when it is medically necessary. Abortion is also covered by public and private insurance and Oregon places no specific gestational limit on it.

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But those policies could change if the balance of power in Salem shifts.

As it is, the Oregon Constitution prohibits discrimination on account of sex. The proposed measure expanded on that, stating that discrimination is also prohibited based on pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation.

It would have also repealed language in the state constitution that bans same-sex marriage. Oregon voters approved that ban in 2004. The provision has been void since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.