Oregon Businesses, Moms Group File Lawsuit Against Governor Over COVID-19 Restrictions: ‘I Can’t Do This Anymore’

 A group of businesses and the Oregon Moms Union filed a lawsuit against Democratic Governor of Oregon Kate Brown due to her COVID-19 restrictions. 

On Monday, the coalition gathered outside of a restaurant in order to announce that they were “demanding a temporary restraining order after Extreme Risk restrictions went into effect Friday in more than a dozen Oregon counties,” as reported by Fox 12 Oregon. 

“There is no scientific evidence that’s yet to be presented on why we continue to be in such an emergency order of lockdowns, and they must come to an end,” Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam said. “We are filing in federal court an order to restrain Governor Brown’s emergency order.”

The lawyer representing the groups told the outlet that there are four plaintiffs in the lawsuit: The Heart of Main Street, Oregon Moms Union, Melissa Adams, the owner of Spud Monkey’s Bar and Grill in Gresham, and her corporation.

The Associated Press reported that the group asked the court to issue an injunction stopping restriction enforcement. The group is pushing back on “unfair restrictions” they said the governor has put on businesses and public school kids, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also said that Brown’s executive order did not differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, “subjecting all to the same regulations and deprivations of liberty,” per the AP.

”I can’t pay my rent. I come in here seven days a week for the last 14 months, trying to make this work,” Adams said. “I did everything that Kate Brown asked me to do. I can’t do this anymore.”

Adams added that she has been affected by COVID-19, responding to the backlash she said she has received from people who say she hasn’t lost anyone to the virus.

“In the last 14 months, I have lost one bar during COVID. I have lost one bar because of COVID. I have lost a marriage. I have lost a business partner. And sadly July 9, I lost my son to suicide during COVID. Suicide is huge. It’s stronger now than it’s ever been,” Adams said. “So don’t tell me that I didn’t lose a life to COVID because I lost a huge part of my life during COVID.”

The Oregon Moms Union is also pushing for students to return to in-person classes five days a week.

“Kate Brown has made it clear that she will not put our kids first,” Oregon Moms Union Co-Founder MacKensey Pulliam said.

Last week, Governor Brown prolonged the state of emergency by 60 days, as reported by The Oregonian/Oregon Live. The order gives her the power to put restrictions on how businesses operate, as well as other things.

On Tuesday, Brown said that all counties would be removed from the Extreme Risk category Friday. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported that the governor made this decision “because one of her pre-set metrics had not been met: The seven-day average of hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide grew by only 14.9% — not the necessary 15%. The state won’t implement extreme risk conditions on new counties because of this missed metric, either.”

The outlet reported that if there had been only two more patients hospitalized for COVID-19 over the past week included in the count, the 15% requirement would have been reached and all 15 counties — including at least two additional counties — would have been in the Extreme Risk category for safety measures by the week’s end. 

“Based on today’s numbers, I am keeping my commitment to Oregonians,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday. “ … I know this will bring relief to many across the state.”

It was not immediately clear how this news would affect the lawsuit.

The governor also received backlash last month over her health department’s proposal to make the state’s mask mandate permanent. 

The Daily Wire reported: 

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, led by administrator Michael Wood, received 5,000 comments on the proposed rule before the public comment period ended.

“The majority of comments were simply hostile to the entire notion of COVID-19 restrictions,” Wood said. “The vast majority of comments were in the context of, ‘You never needed to do anything.’”