(The Center Square) – Maine lawmakers have approved a bill aimed at protecting health care providers who prescribe mifepristone and other abortion medications.
The Democratic proposal, awaiting Gov. Janet Mills’ signature, would allow prescription labels for mifepristone, misoprostol and their generics to include the name of the prescribing health care facility, rather than the provider’s name.
Abortion-rights advocates, including Planned Parenthood and the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, say the bill will provide important safety protections for health care providers who are under threat from the Trump administration and states that have banned the procedure.
“These threats to providers are no longer abstract,” state Sen. Anne Carney, D-Portland, said in recent testimony. “We can no longer rely on federal action when it comes to acts of violence facing clinicians providing abortion care. We must take this additional step to safeguard Maine’s health infrastructure and our commitment to protecting all clinicians in our state.”
New York and Washington have similar shield laws, supporters pointed out. And legislation is also being considered in Vermont and Colorado.
Last year, Maine joined 20 other states in passing a state law shielding patients and providers from criminal and civil liability for prescribing mifepristone and other abortion medications. Abortion is legal in Maine at all stages of pregnancy with a doctor’s approval.
Lisa Margulies, a lobbyist with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, said the legislation would “deter abortion opponents from out of state from weaponizing a discarded or otherwise obtained pill bottle.”
“It also protects our state’s fragile health care infrastructure, particularly important given Maine’s clinician shortage – especially in rural areas where the loss of even a single clinician could have a devastating impact on patients’ ability to access care,” she said in testimony.
Antiabortion groups and faith leaders say the changes are unnecessary and would violate the religious rights of Mainers who object to the procedure.
“Why should the provider’s name be shielded from this act?” said Suzanne Lafreniere, who testified in opposition to the bill on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. “This prescription should not be treated any differently than other proscribed drugs. The proponents of abortion consider it healthcare so it should be treated as such and held to the same standards.”
Mifepristone was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago and is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.
More than half of all abortions in the U.S. are now done using medication, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
