By Janene Oleaga, Esq.
AllPaths Family Building advocates throughout New England and at the federal level. We plan to share periodic updates about these activities and are thrilled to report that this year’s legislative session in Maine was a resounding success for reproductive rights. The Pine Tree State’s lawmakers decisively rejected a wave of anti-reproductive health proposals, allowing the AllPaths Advocacy Committee to shift focus to other New England states where bills threatening our reproductive freedom had more traction.
The Big Picture
This session, 11 bills were filed in Maine that directly affect the reproductive rights of Mainers. Of these 11 proposed bills, 7 were direct attempts to restrict reproductive rights, and all 7 failed. At least 4 bills aimed to strengthen protections for reproductive care and providers and further safeguard reproductive rights. Two of these important bills are still in play and have been carried over to the next session.
Defeated: Bills Restricting Reproductive Rights
LD 975 An Act to Repeal Laws Allowing Abortion and to Criminalize Abortion
The most extreme bill of the bunch attempted to define life as beginning from the moment of conception – a move that would have effectively banned abortion and jeopardized IVF in the state of Maine by conferring legal personhood to embryos. Embryonic personhood and fetal personhood are concepts incompatible with the practice of IVF. If we define a person to include an embryo, doctors cannot provide their patients with the standard of care. If an embryo is a person, can embryos undergo testing for genetic conditions? Will an unsuccessful embryo transfer procedure be considered a death – or worse, a crime? Can the embryos be discarded if they are determined to be carriers for disease incompatible with life? Can they ever be discarded?
AllPaths strongly opposes any legislation that confers fetal or embryonic personhood as it threatens fertility care and reproductive freedom. Thankfully, even among anti-abortion members of the Maine legislature, this bill gained little traction and died quickly.
LD 253 An Act to Prevent the MaineCare Program from Covering Abortion Services
Concise in its language, this bill had one goal: to strip abortion coverage from MaineCare (Medicaid) recipients, disproportionately affecting low-income Mainers. Again, the bill saw little support, even among anti-abortion members of the legislature, and did not move forward.
Our work at AllPaths is rooted in ensuring that every person deserves access to the reproductive care they need, and the right to make decisions about their body, their fertility, and their future. Abortion is healthcare – plain and simple. Without access to abortion, a person’s reproductive autonomy is limited. We cannot advocate for access to IVF, egg freezing, or family planning without defending the full spectrum of reproductive care – including access to safe and legal abortion.
LD 886 An Act to Regulate Medication Abortions and LD 887 An Act to Make Manufacturers Responsible for Proper Disposal of Abortion Drugs and Require a Health Care Provider to be Physically Present During a Chemical Abortion
These companion bills tried to impose harsh regulations on medicated abortions including requiring a doctor to be physically present and holding manufacturers liable for disposal of such medication. We have seen similar bills to these enacted and proposed in other states as part of an effort to curtail access to abortions through telemedicine, undermine the doctor-patient relationship, and weaponize misinformation regarding the safety of abortion medication. Neither bill advanced, but they align with a pattern of anti-abortion strategies to limit access that have gained support in other states.
LD 1007 and LD 1154 “Informed Consent” Mandates and Waiting Periods
These bills attempted to force health care providers to give women seeking abortions under specific circumstances with alternatives to abortion and mandatory waiting periods as an effort to ensure they are providing informed consent to the abortion. Though the language of the proposed legislation may seem innocent, the goal of enacting such legislation is to shame women and hinder access to abortion. Forced waiting periods have more to do with pressure to change one’s mind than it does to truly inform someone seeking an abortion, and scripted responses to individuals seeking abortions undermines patient autonomy and medical providers practicing the standard of care. Both bills are dead after gaining little support in Augusta.
LD 682 An Act to Amend Certain Laws Regarding Abortions
This bill was proposed as a sweeping rollback to reproductive rights in the state of Maine, including multiple regressive changes such as: criminalizing post-viability abortion providers, tightening licensing requirements for abortion providers, and forcing detailed demographic reporting of abortion patients. In a clear attempt to intimidate abortion providers and patients alike, the bill outright failed.
Looking Ahead: Proactive, Protective Legislation Still Alive
Now for the good news: several bills protective of reproductive rights are still on the table, carried over to the next legislative session. AllPaths plans to actively support and advocate for these measures.
LD 1418 An Act to Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care, Including Fertility Treatment and Contraceptives
This is a straightforward yet powerful bill that would prevent the Maine Commissioner of Health and Human Services from adopting rules that restrict access to reproductive healthcare in Maine. A power move taking discretion away from an appointed and not an elected official, if enacted this bill serves to emphasize the focus on adhering to the rule of law as far as access to reproductive healthcare is concerned in Maine.
LD 163 An Act to Require Health Insurance Coverage for Federally Approved Nonprescription Oral Hormonal Contraceptives and Nonprescription Emergency Contraceptives
If enacted, this bill ensures that birth control is fully covered by insurance providers in Maine. In addition to requiring coverage for prescription birth control, this bill expands coverage to encompass over-the-counter birth control as well. Access without barriers is the goal – and this bill provides options to Mainers making decisions about their bodies and their families.
LD 1119 An Act Regarding Reproductive Health Care and LD 585 An Act to Amend Maine’s Prescription Drug Labeling Law by Allowing the Removal of the Name of a Prescriber of Mifepristone, Misopostol and Their Genetic Alternatives
These bills propose critical safeguards for abortion providers, including changes to prescription labeling and provider identification that increase privacy and security. In order to ensure abortion remains safe, legal, and accessible in Maine, we need to protect the people providing this essential care.
LD 143 An Act to Improve Women’s Health and Economic Security by Funding Family Planning Services
This bill seeks to establish a statewide family planning fund within the Department of Health and Human Services, helping ensure contraceptive and fertility services remain accessible and affordable to all Mainers, regardless of income or insurance coverage. This fund will help Mainers access the contraceptive care they need to have control over their own family planning. If access to care is top priority, this bill is an important step in ensuring there is funding for all Mainers to access the care they need.
What’s Next?
Maine has proven to be a national leader in protecting and defending reproductive rights, but the fight is far from over.
In the next session, we will be asking you to join AllPaths in:
- Submitting testimony supporting proactive legislation
- Tracking ongoing developments in Maine and across the United States
- Mobilizing advocates and allies to keep the pressure on our lawmakers
We are deeply grateful to the Maine lawmakers for soundly rejecting restrictions to our reproductive rights and for continuing the discussion for legislation supportive of reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. AllPaths is looking forward to continuing our fight during the 133rd legislative session in Maine. Stay tuned to our AllPaths website and social media (@allpathsfb), as well as the Maine Fertility Advocacy Facebook group, for updates on how you can take action.
Janene Oleaga, Esq. (she/her) is a fertility lawyer and reproductive rights advocate. Founder of Oleaga Law LLC, Janene is a member of the AllPaths Board of Directors and serves as the Chair of AllPaths Advocacy Committee.