Maine Gov. Janet Mills and legislative leaders have announced new legislation aimed at expanding abortion access.
Gov. Mills, Senate President Troy Jackson and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross announced the proposed legislation Tuesday. It seeks to clarify language in Maine’s law to ensure decisions about abortions in late pregnancy are made by health care professionals working with a patient.
It would also eliminate current language which includes criminal penalties for those performing abortions under certain circumstances.
The Mills administration says the proposal was inspired by the experience of Dana Pierce, a Yarmouth resident who traveled to Colorado in 2019 to get an abortion after her second child was found to be suffering from a genetic mutation which would have made it impossible for the child to breathe if he was born. State laws prevented her from seeking an abortion here in Maine.
“No Maine person should have to leave our state, the comfort of their family or friends, and have to potentially spend thousands of dollars just to access the care they need,” Gov. Mills said in a statement. “This bill removes barriers to care and makes clear that, in Maine, the decision to have an abortion is for a woman and her medical provider to make.”
Pierce wrote about the experience in a recent Portland Press Herald op-ed.
In a statement Tuesday, Maine House Republicans called the changes “too extreme.” They said the changes run counter to wide support for current Maine law. They encourage widespread participation in the coming public hearing process.
