Oregon Moves Step Closer to Vote on Abortion Ban : Politics: Petition drive tries to qualify referendum for November ballot. Measure calls for prohibition except in cases of rape, incest and threat to mother’s life.

Oregon moved closer Friday to becoming the first state to hold a voters’ referendum on a virtual ban on abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Webster decision last year.

A conservative political group presented the state Elections Division a petition of 119,460 signatures calling for a referendum on a measure that would prohibit abortion except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.

If at least 84,770 of the signatures--representing 8% of the number of Oregon voters who participated in the last gubernatorial election--are deemed valid, the proposal will go to a referendum Nov. 6.

The Supreme Court’s Webster decision on July 3, 1989, gave states more power to pass restrictive abortion laws.

Since then, Pennsylvania has enacted a law banning most abortions after 24 weeks and lawmakers approved abortion bans in Idaho and Louisiana, but governors in both states vetoed the measures.

No state has held a referendum on an abortion ban, although several states face possible November votes on minor restrictions, such as parental notice laws.

Activists on both sides said Oregon is the only state heading toward a referendum on a virtual ban on abortions.

Oregon also is likely to be the first state where voters face two anti-abortion measures at the same time. In addition to the prohibition, another initiative would require doctors to notify at least one parent 48 hours before performing an abortion on a girl under 18.

Jeanette Turk of Oregonians for Choice, a coalition formed to fight both ballot measures, said she expected both to be defeated.

“Oregon has a long pro-choice tradition,” Turk said.

The two measures have split anti-abortion forces in Oregon, with the Oregon Citizens Alliance backing the ban and Right to Life sponsoring the parental notification measure.