The number of abortions performed in Maine from 2017-2020 was twice the national average, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The report, published by the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group, said that abortions across the United States increased by 8 percent in the three-year span. This reverses a 30 year downward trend in abortions nationwide. In Maine specifically, abortions rose 16 percent, twice the national average and eight times the Northeast average. However, it is worth noting that despite the heavy increase, Maine’s abortion rate is still the second-lowest in the Northeast, and well below the national average.
Much of the increase came in and after 2019, when Governor Janet Mills signed a bill into law that allowed Medicaid to cover abortions. Abortion rights advocates say that this legislation was key in allowing low-income women access to abortion and other necessary healthcare.
According to the Portland Press Herald, a spokesperson for Governor Mills said that “Fundamentally, the governor believes that reproductive health decisions should be made by a woman in consultation with her health provider – not by the government. With the support of the Legislature, her administration has fought to enable women to exercise that power by reducing barriers that prevent them from accessing reproductive health care. Her administration will continue to support women as they make the reproductive and maternal health decisions that are best for them.” The report concurs with this claim that income disparity is a barrier to abortion, stating that “the majority of people who obtain an abortion are poor or low income, and this coverage meant that many who would not otherwise have been able to afford an abortion could get care.”
Governor Mill’s November opponent and predecessor, Paul LePage, says that he has “a proven history of supporting life.”
The report says that “the Trump-Pence administration’s “domestic gag rule” dramatically slashed the Title X family planning network’s capacity and severely reduced the number of contraceptive clients served by the program. This meant that many people in some states lost access to low- or no-cost contraceptive care. In turn, this may have resulted in more unintended pregnancies and greater need for abortion care.” In a report released by the Center for Biological Diversity earlier this year, they say that birth rate for 15-19 year-olds had fallen to a record low in 2020, likely due to increased access to abortion.
This report is released at a critical juncture in the United States’ fight over abortion, with the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization due to be released before the end of the month. In a leaked draft opinion, the Court looks slated to overturn the precedent set by Roe v. Wade in 1973 that protects abortion nationwide. If Roe were to be overturned, 22 states would immediately institute some type of abortion restriction. Maine, however, has protections for abortion, passed in 1993 by Republican Governor McKernan. This law specifically protects abortions prior to viability, generally between 22 and 24 weeks, or, if the life of the mother is in danger. All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation have said that they support protections of abortion.
The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is slated to be released on Tuesday, June 21st or Monday, June 27th.
