AUGUSTA, Maine — A new proposal would put Maine among a group of states with “shield laws” that protect medical providers and out-of-state patients from prosecution or litigation for abortions and gender-affirming medical care.
Conservatives led by the Christian Civic League of Maine are upset about the plan over not only its contents but also the Democratic sponsor introducing it last year as a vague “concept draft.” These bills are initially known only by their titles and can often sit around in Augusta for months until lawmakers flesh out the actual contents of the legislation.
The text of “An Act Regarding Health Care in the State” released less than a week before a Tuesday hearing on the measure in front of the Legislature’s health insurance committee. Rep. Anne Perry, D-Calais, said she finalized the text last week after discussing and reviewing language with attorneys and fellow legislators.
The proposal is not aiming to expand abortion and transgender health care laws but affirms access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care services in Maine is a legal right while outlawing “interference,” Perry, a retired nurse practitioner, said Monday.
“It really is to just protect those providers from being prosecuted for caring for a patient who comes to this state,” she said.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court moved in 2022 to overturn federal abortion rights, more than a dozen Democratic-led states have enacted “shield laws” or issued executive orders to protect providers and patients seeking abortions or gender-affirming care for transgender individuals. Gov. Janet Mills has done the latter, but Perry is looking to codify it.
The shield laws have not faced legal tests but may at some point. In Maine, Perry said she had been thinking about Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas seeking medical records for children from transgender care providers in states that provide gender-affirming services.
“I don’t want to wait until it becomes a litigation issue,” Perry said of her proposal.
Her plan features several parts, including protecting providers and patients against “hostile litigation” that seeks to “deter, prevent, sanction or punish” them for engaging in the legally protected health care services and allowing them to countersue.
Various privacy protections are also included in the bill. Unless required by federal law, it says courts and public agencies in Maine could not cooperate with investigations or proceedings that solely target legal abortion or gender-affirming care.
Perry’s bill is moving ahead after the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee recommended against passing bill from Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, that would prevent Maine from enforcing out-of-state orders to remove children from their parents or guardians based on another state’s ban on gender-affirming care.
Additionally, a pending proposal from Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, would enshrine “reproductive autonomy” rights in the Maine Constitution, but it faces a tall order of receiving the two-thirds support needed to reach the November ballot.
Carroll Conley, the executive director of the evangelical Christian Civic League of Maine, referred to Osher’s bill and a new law the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed last year to allow abortions deemed medically necessary after a viability cutoff in a Sunday email to supporters. He called Perry’s bill “even worse.”
“I think it is devious for the supporters of this bill to schedule it so quickly and to do it on Election Day,” Conley wrote, asking opponents to show up to the State House on Tuesday.
Lawmakers in both parties have used concept drafts for a variety of purposes over the years, sometimes to the annoyance of colleagues and citizens trying to follow bills. Last year, Maine Public noted that 28 percent of bills introduced by lawmakers were placeholders. The total amount was five times higher than those in the previous five legislative sessions.
That can make it hard for members of the public to follow legislation. Perry’s amendment still does not appear on the Legislature’s bill page. A policy analyst for the committee distributed it to interested parties last Wednesday, just four business days before the public hearing.
Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund said Perry’s proposal is consistent with Mills and the Legislature taking steps to protect abortion access and builds on legislation passed last year protecting providers from adverse malpractice insurance actions. Major medical associations have also issued statements supporting gender-affirming care as safe and effective for transgender patients.
Planned Parenthood said the new proposal from Perry is “about Maine’s ability to protect health care providers, patients and access to essential care within its own borders.”
