PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – With Donald Trump taking office again in January, Oregon lawmakers are preparing to challenge potential restrictions to abortion access.

This comes after the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, released Project 2025 – a policy document the group intended for the incoming Trump administration – which calls for limits to abortion access.

While President-elect Trump has made efforts to distance himself from Project 2025, some of his cabinet picks authored parts of the document, as reported by Politico, which could influence policy under his administration.

In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion," adding, "As President Trump said many times, he had nothing to do with Project 2025."

Amid the threats to abortion access, KOIN 6 News spoke with Oregon Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield earlier this week to discuss his plans to protect access in Oregon. Below is KOIN 6 News' conversation with Attorney General-elect Rayfield.

Question: What are your thoughts on Project 2025, and the Trump administration's plans when it comes to abortion?

Dan Rayfield: The values in Oregon are extremely clear when it comes to abortion access. An overwhelming majority of Oregonians support abortion access here in our state, and so as an attorney general representing the values of our state, Project ‘25 and some of the things that they want to do when it comes to abortion access are deeply concerning. I think there is a long history, a four-year history during President Trump's first term, that when he says things out loud, he often tries to accomplish those things, sometimes by administrative actions. I think with a Republican-controlled Congress, you could see them try to pass legislation to enact Project ‘25 and some of their viewpoints.

Question: As attorney general, how will you protect abortion access in Oregon? What are some of the tools that the state has to protect access?

Rayfield: As attorney general in Oregon, the number one responsibility for me is to protect the values of our state. I was very fortunate when I served as Speaker of the House, we passed one of the most forward-thinking abortion rights access bills in the nation. We have that on our books. We have a lot of protections for abortion rights in Oregon. However, challenges come when they're being threatened in other states, whether it's the mifepristone lawsuit that the current attorney general had to intervene and be a part of, even when we had a Democratic president, if the current administration were to advocate and pass an abortion ban nationally, that law would be in conflict with Oregon laws. It would be our responsibility in the Attorney General's Office to make sure that we stand up for Oregon's values and stand up for the laws that we have passed in the state that reflect the values in our state.

Question: If there is a national abortion ban, what's your first step?

Dan Rayfield: So, what we would do is we would be in a position to preserve the rights of Oregonians by filing a lawsuit to show that the effect of Oregon's laws should be enforced over the federal laws, and we would use existing constitutional law that has been put in precedent to defend those values.

Question: Project 2025 also calls for changes to how states report abortions to federal health agencies, saying, “because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, HHS should use every available tool, including cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother's state of residence, and by what method."

As attorney general, how do you balance Oregonians' access to abortion and health privacy concerns amid threats to federal funding?

Rayfield: And I think the one thing, again, that we go back to here is there's a lot of tools in the toolbox of Project 2025, and they're trying to be extremely creative to take away a woman's right to have an abortion. When it comes to defending those values, we have to be equally as creative and equally as aggressive to defend the values and our rights here in this state, and that's what we will plan to do going forward. There's a lot of different ways that the attorney general has different tools in our toolbelt to protect those. It may require cooperation with the governor, it may require cooperation with our legislature and be creative on how we're funding healthcare in this state.

Question: Outgoing Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is co-leading a federal lawsuit with Washington's outgoing Attorney General Bob Ferguson that challenges FDA restrictions on abortion medication and mifepristone. Will you continue that lawsuit?

Rayfield: The mifepristone lawsuit is a wonderful example of how people who are trying to attack abortion rights; they're trying to do it creatively by going at it through administrative channels, through the FDA, when there is a clearly safe drug that is on the market. And so, the current attorney general [Ellen Rosenblum], as well as the governor-elect in Washington [former Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson], move forward with a lawsuit to protect those values, we will absolutely continue to pursue that to ensure that that mifepristone is accessible and available in our state.

Question: With the incoming Trump administration and potential abortion restrictions under Project 2025, how important will partnerships with other states, such as Washington, be in efforts to protect abortion access?

Rayfield: Partnerships with all attorneys general are incredibly important in protecting values. States like Washington and Oregon, our values often align incredibly closely. So, to be able to utilize our resources, our collective think tank when it comes to some of our best legal minds is incredibly important, and it's always good to have partners when you're trying to take on extremely big tasks, especially a national or a federal administration that's trying to or threatening the rights of Oregonians.

Question: What are some other ways that you're preparing for the potential fight for abortion access? Are there plans to increase special counsel in the Attorney General's office or build teams in the Oregon DOJ that focus on healthcare issues?

Rayfield: There's already an amazing team at the Department of Justice that is ready to step in and lead when it comes to defending Oregon's values. During the first four years of the Trump administration, that was an incredibly important time where partnerships between attorney generals’ offices were working together. I think as we go into the second four-year term of Trump's presidency, I don't think that these attacks are going to lessen.

I think it's really important to remember that during that first four-year term, there were 100, roughly a little more than 100, lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general, and 80% of those cases were won because they had overstepped their constitutional balance, because they had taken unlawful actions. That is going to continue.

There's always a possibility that in the Department of Justice in Oregon, to protect Oregon's values, we will need more resources, we will need more attorneys to be able to do that again. It's very early. We're two weeks past the election. It's incredibly important that as the attorney general in Oregon, as the Department of Justice in Oregon, that we are ready, and that we know that attacks are going to come, how they come and where they come, we'll see in the coming months.

Question: As you prepare to take office, how has Attorney General Rosenblum's office and her team helped prepare your team for potential threats to abortion access?

Rayfield: In any transition into any office, I'm incredibly grateful to our current attorney general in this process, in leading what I would consider and hope to be an incredibly seamless transition as we move into January. And so those are things that just naturally go on in this process. I had a pre-existing relationship with the current attorney general for my time in the legislature as speaker and co-chair of Ways and Means, and so we have a wonderful relationship. She has incredible staff and an entirely incredible team at the Department of Justice. So, I look forward to working with all of them in this new role.

Question: Since becoming Attorney General-Elect, have you spoken with Governor Kotek or Washington's Attorney General-Elect Nick Brown to discuss plans to protect abortion access in Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest?

Dan Rayfield: We have had brief conversations post-election, but nothing in terms of specifics with all of our unique plans. I think each of us brings something unique to the table. I think Washington's incoming governor [Bob Ferguson], who was an attorney general, has a unique perspective. So, I think in collaboration with the four of us, I think we're in a really good position to protect Oregonians' rights as well as Washington.

Question: What is your message to Oregonians, or people who travel to Oregon for abortion access amid threats to abortion?

Dan Rayfield: Oregonians have made their voices incredibly clear on how they stand on the issue of abortion rights, and it is my responsibility and duty as Oregon's Attorney General to defend those rights and anybody that comes here.