The new Board of Directors is:
Peter VandenBerg
Michelle Binker
Richard P. Burke
Thomas Busse
Joe Christman
Benjamin Feintech
Sonja Feintech
Rob Rhoads
Matt Rowe
The new Public Policy Board is:
Marrion Kaufman
Fred Brick
Timothy Perkins
Christopher Peters
Will Hobson
Taylor Rickey
Adam Zielinski
Thank you to all the candidates who ran and to all of our electors—we wouldn’t have a party without you!
Whereas, the LP National platform states:
1.1 Self-Ownership
Individuals own their bodies and have rights over them that other individuals, groups, and governments may not violate. Individuals have the freedom and responsibility to decide what they knowingly and voluntarily consume, and what risks they accept to their own health, finances, safety, or life.
1.5 Parental Rights
Parents, or other guardians, have the right to raise their children according to their own standards and beliefs, provided that the rights of children to be free from abuse and neglect are also protected.
2.13 Health Care
We favor a free market health care system. Medical facilities, medical providers, and medical products (including drugs) must be freely available in the marketplace without government restrictions or licenses. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want (if any), the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions. People should be free to purchase health insurance across state lines. We oppose governments either mandating, or restricting voluntary access to, medical treatments or procedures including vaccines.
Whereas, children are not capable of consent; this is why we call them children (and not adults).
Whereas, Libertarians fully support the right of adults to transition or undergo any medical treatment they desire to. We support all members of the LGBT+ community to live their lives as they see fit. All individuals have the same rights.
Whereas, child abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse includes any damage done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and which is often represented by an injury or series of injuries appearing to be non-accidental in nature.
Whereas, according a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, and Evolutionary Biologist Heather Heying PHD Univ of Michigan, adolescents with gender dysphoria (GD) treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) therapy are temporarily sex-steroid deprived until the addition of cross-sex hormones (CSH) and they have a measurable decrease in their bone mass density. It also has negative effects on several physiological parameters, including blood volume, cholesterol and several other hormones. Furthermore, giving GnRH at onset of puberty affects cognitive function in an animal model (sheep), impairing spatial memory. Less concerning, but also permanent, testosterone therapy for trans male children post puberty will have already caused facial hair growth and lowered the voice. There is a lot that is not known about the long term effects of transitioning children. A lot of this is due to the fact it has only started becoming prevalent in recent years. Some though is already clear:
Whereas, intervening at an early age with experimental and disruptive medical practices for all the children who declare themselves trans, risks harm to a large number of non-trans people for life.
If the risks have to be weighed:
The treatments for people who are trans—puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery—have permanent costs. For the vast majority of children and youth who are merely exploring identity and belief, doing what children do—those costs are unacceptable. We now live in a culture where public schools are teaching students in elementary schools that they may not be the correct sex. It is entirely possible for children to say they are not the correct gender now, and realize they were wrong later. It is also very possible for parents to convince or coerce their children into transitioning to the opposite sex. This could be because they are ashamed to have a gay or lesbian child, or because they think it is politically fashionable. In either case, this is child abuse.
Whereas, any children that undergo full surgical transition to the other sex will not be able to have children of their own because they will not have the parts of their original reproductive system necessary. Furthermore, medical advancements cannot construct ovaries or testicles for individuals that did not have them at birth.
Whereas, even if the child stops short of surgical transition, they run a great risk of becoming infertile, especially biological females. One is generally able to conceive and carry children about 18 months after stopping testosterone therapy, although there is no guarantee that the reproductive system will still function correctly. Trans men on testosterone treatments often have an elevated risk of developing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which usually causes infertility. There are also increased risks of birth defects after lengthy testosterone therapy. For trans female children, stopping estrogen therapy for a period of time may allow sperm production to resume, although it may not be at a sufficient level to produce a pregnancy without assisted reproduction, if at all.
If done pre-puberty, without having gone through natal puberty, anatomical males will not produce sperm and anatomical females will not have eggs capable of maturing for fertilization.
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, the Libertarian Party of Oregon considers both transitional hormone therapy and surgical gender re-assigment surgery on children to be child abuse.
Sources used:
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/100/2/E270/2814818?login=false
https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/childrentransitioning
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/can-transgender-people-be_b_839703
Whereas, taxation is theft
Whereas, foreign aid is stealing money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries.
Whereas, Libertarians realize that nearly always every actor on both sides of every war is a state. States are evil organizations that seek to enrich their own wealth and power with no regard for the cannon fodder that fights their wars.
Whereas, further escalation in Ukraine risks the possibility of an all out war between NATO, Russia, and Russia’s allies.
It is therefore resolved: The LPO PPB supports the Rage Against The War Machine Protest being jointly held by the National Libertarian Party and The People’s Party being held on Feb 19 2023, and joins them in their demands:
Learn more at https://rageagainstwar.com/
The Public Policy Board meeting will be held on January 27th, at 7pm over Zoom, to get the link, please contact Travis West, chair of the LPO Public Policy Board at travis.west@lporegon.org.
Support our Public Policy Board with a recurring donation to the Libertarian Party of Oregon.
Did you know you can keep money out of the hands of the state government by making a donation to the Libertarian Party of Oregon? It’s not just tax deductible, it’s a straight up credit of $50 for single filers and $100 for those filing jointly for household incomes of no more than $75,000/150,000 respectively. (More info: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_316.102)
We have big plans for our upcoming State convention this May and we are working on getting events planned and systems put in place for a very exciting presidential year in 2024…but our success in growing the party and building it’s infrastructure will largely rely on our available financial resources.
So if the Oregon state government getting LESS money and the Libertarian Party of Oregon getting MORE is a formula that appeals to you please make the maximum donation for the credit that you can to help us grow the Libertarian Party throughout the state.
You can donate by clicking here —> DONATE
If you are a donor that is interested in making a donation larger than the amount necessary to receive the credit, and would like to know more about the LPO beforehand, please reach out to our Vice Chair via email: will.hobson@lporegon.org . If time permits, a call can be scheduled to go into further detail for interested donors.
Next week we will be sending out our LPO Yearly Wrap up to go over what we accomplished in 2022 and to talk about what we plan to do in 2023.
Thank you so much to all past, present and future donors. We are forever appreciative of your support. Happy Holidays and Stay Free!
-Libertarian Party of Oregon
Who all is interested in serving on the following committees?
We are getting them spun up with regular monthly meetings starting early in January to get ready for 2024:
Campaigns Committee
Affiliate Committee
Fundraising Committee
IT/data Committee
Please send an email to will.hobson@lporegon.org if interested. Thanks and happy holidays!
The Legislature hid this upcoming hearing about the Oregon State Police's administrative rules process on M114 by holding it under the "Senate Interim Committee on Judiciary and M110 Implementation" - so nobody is observing this is where the actual M114 work is taking place.
To watch the livestream at 8:30am 12/7 go to this link: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021I1/Committees/SJD110/Overview
We are being informed this will be taking place in Hearing room B.
We are also just now hearing that OFF's motion to get an injunction has been denied.
The Authoritarians have come for your right to bear arms. We must work together to stop them.
Judge Raschio GRANTED the 10 day Temporary Restraining Order on BOTH the magazine ban and the Permit to Purchase requirement. The Temporary Restraining Order will last from Dec. 8th to Dec. 18th.
A hearing had been set for next Tuesday (12/13) at 9:00am for Plantiffs' motion for a Preliminary Injunction on the magazine ban and Permit to Purchase
Join our Mailing List to stay informed with the LP Oregon's fight against Measure 114.
A more detailed summary and PDF of the order to come later.
The Libertarian Party is the only party that protects your absolute right to bear arms:
Today Richard Burke along with Annie Kallen, represented the Libertarian Party of Oregon at the annual “Democracy in Action” event hosted by Central Catholic High School in Portland Oregon. At this event, various public officials, political parties, and political organizations set up displays while students arrive and ask questions.
At this year’s event, the Libertarian Party’s table was one of the most popular with crowds asking questions and listening to answers throughout the event. Over the last ten years, the Libertarian Party of Oregon has been a fixture of this event.
To help demonstrate what is unique about the Libertarian Party of Oregon, we employed the well known quiz along with the nolan chart as is available from the Advocates for Self Government. In the attached photo, Richard Burke and Annie are shown second and third from the left.
