AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A civil liberties attorney says Maine is “putting its thumb on the scale of a highly personal decision” by paying for pregnancy care, but declining to pay to end a pregnancy.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine contends the state Medicaid program, called MaineCare, is discriminating in care it offers to pregnant women. But a state attorney told justices that there’s no state obligation to fund abortions even though women have a right to the procedure.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments Wednesday in the appeal of a state judge’s decision that sided with the state in refusing to pay for abortions.
Maine ACLU attorney Zach Heiden said that the Hyde amendment bans federal funding for most abortions but that there’s no such prohibition on state dollars.
