The recent op-ed from Bend resident Nancy Boever attacking my pro-choice views is so distorted and personally offensive I feel the need to respond.

When it comes to abortion rights, I believe most Oregonians are either pro-choice with certain limitations or pro-life with certain exceptions.

I am pro-choice.

I’ve made my views on abortion clear since 2012 when I first ran for public office, including two successful campaigns to represent Bend in the Oregon House. My experience is that while people of conscience may hold firm views on abortion rights, most Oregonians manifest their positions moderately and with thoughtful consideration for other points of view.

It’s what I try to do.

Unfortunately, that’s not how groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood operate. These groups are highly partisan and quick to attack anyone who doesn’t agree with their far-left agenda. I agree with President Bill Clinton’s famous 1992 statement that abortion in America should remain “safe, legal and rare.” Remarkably, however, that’s no longer an acceptable position among the professional pro-abortion lobby.

As a state lawmaker, I’ve followed a moderate, independent-minded and balanced path: supporting abortion and reproductive rights, advancing legislation to make birth control more accessible for women to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions (for example, House Bill 2879 in 2015 and House Bill 2527 in 2017) and opposing extreme legislation that crosses the line from being pro-choice to pro-abortion (House Bill 3391 in 2017). If elected governor, I’ll follow this same moderate path and won’t have a single-issue litmus test for legislation, appropriations or nominations.

Most important is the fact that the innovative, bipartisan policies I’ve been advancing as a legislator are working. Since the implementation of HB 2879 — the over-the-counter birth control law I wrote in 2015 — abortions in Oregon have declined by nearly 10 percent. This December, the year-over-year decline was 38 percent. And while teen pregnancies have been steadily declining in recent years, there has been a big drop since 2016 due to increased access to contraception under Oregon’s pioneering new law. According to the latest data, teen pregnancy rates have gone down by 25 percent in Oregon since 2015. All of this data is available on Oregon Health Authority’s website.

The bottom line is this: I am pro-choice and have advanced bipartisan legislation to empower women and reduce the number of abortions in Oregon. But because of my party affiliation and my moderate approach, the professional pro-abortion lobby considers me a threat and someone who must be attacked and defeated. It’s sad because these attacks reflect a rigid intolerance that has taken root in American politics. Unless you are 100 percent in agreement and toe-the-line in both word and deed with the self-appointed guardians of a certain orthodoxy, you are the enemy of their cause and must be silenced, defeated and purged. This is wrong. While it may be the new normal in national politics, it is a recent and regrettable phenomenon in Oregon that has ramifications far beyond abortion. Intolerance undermines our ability to find common ground on issues critical to Oregon’s future — like long overdue education, budget, health care and pension reforms.

I’m running for governor to re-establish a moderate, bipartisan center where the best ideas from Republicans, Democrats and Independents can create a better Oregon. I am running to fix the big problems — in education, health care and our state budget — that Gov. Kate Brown has either ignored, avoided or made worse since she was elected. I believe Oregon is ready for this kind of change, and I’m eager to lead it.

— Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, is a candidate for governor.