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Lisa Margulies is vice president of public affairs for the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund.
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, millions of people in America have lost freedom over their own bodies. This is a national crisis. As a Mainer and a mother, I am encouraged that our state lawmakers will consider a bill, LD 780, to explicitly enshrine the right to reproductive autonomy in our state constitution and keep politicians and judges out of private medical decisions. I urge every Mainer who cares about reproductive rights to make your voice heard by submitting testimony for this bill.
Thanks in part to historic legislation our state lawmakers passed last session, we have strong laws in Maine protecting reproductive freedoms. But those laws aren’t guaranteed and are subject to the outcome of elections every two years.
I am proud that after the U.S. Supreme Court revoked federal protections for abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, a majority of Maine lawmakers responded to the moment. They responded to health care providers, to patients, and to Mainers who shared deeply personal stories. State lawmakers listened to their testimony and responded with compassion and evidence-based policy, passing several bills that protect and expand access to abortion and related care.
In the meantime, stories and studies from across the country continue to show what we’ve long known: abortion bans harm people, and people opposed to abortion will not stop their efforts to erode our liberties. Two recent stories illustrate why the laws passed in Maine are so important, and why we must explicitly protect our rights through a constitutional amendment.
In Texas, Kate Cox needed an abortion later in her pregnancy after receiving a fatal fetal diagnosis. Texas’ ban on abortion prohibited her doctors from providing that care. State politicians inserted themselves in Cox’s medical care and actively worked to deny her an abortion. Cox had to leave her home state to get the abortion she and her doctors knew she needed while judges considered whether she had a right to that care. This case is yet another example of why Maine needed LD 1619, a law passed last session that places trust in medical providers and patients, not politicians, to make private medical decisions throughout pregnancy.
Following the Dobbs ruling, in New Mexico, four municipalities passed ordinances that restrict clinics from receiving or sending medication abortion or medical equipment through the mail, despite abortion being legal in that state. This illustrates why Maine needed LD 1343, which prevents municipalities from restricting access to abortion care.
But we don’t have to look outside our own state lines to see that attacks on our reproductive autonomy are not slowing down. Maine politicians opposed to abortion care proposed eight bills just last session that would have restricted our rights and limited access to essential health care.
Thankfully, the majority of our elected leaders rejected those attacks and worked to protect Maine patients and providers, decriminalize abortion, and make abortion care more affordable for Mainers with health insurance.
Now, with state Sen. Eloise Vitelli’s resolution for a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive autonomy, all Mainers have an opportunity to remind our elected leaders that their constituents value fundamental reproductive rights.
The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment on Monday, Jan. 22 — a day that marks the would-be 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. If you can’t make it to Augusta on Jan. 22, you can submit testimony virtually or in writing.
LD 780 is about the right to decide when and if to start a family, use birth control, assert agency over one’s own body during pregnancy and delivery, and have an abortion. Across the country, voters have shown overwhelming support for enshrining these fundamental rights, and LD 780 is Maine’s opportunity to protect our rights explicitly.
Let’s rebuke the cruelty we are seeing throughout the country and show what we as a state stand for — compassion, respect, and freedom.