Maine’s Judiciary Committee is set to hold a massive public hearing this Friday on a slate of abortion-related legislation.
The hearing is set to begin at 9:30am in State House Room 438 and is expected to go until sometime between 5pm and 6pm that night.
Mainers may begin arriving as early as 8am to sign up to testify. Based on sign up order, those looking to offer testimony will be assigned a group number that will determine when they will be called to speak.
Due to the volume of public testimony that is expected Friday, the Legislative Analyst for the the Legislature’s Office of Policy and Legal Analysis (OPLA) shared a schedule Wednesday night detailing the order how testimony will be accepted throughout the day.
The first two hours of day will reserved for testimony from primary bill sponsors and those speaking in favor of the proposed legislation.
The next two hours will be set aside for those testifying in opposition, followed by two hours of testimony from those testifying neither for nor against.
After this, the Committee will rotate between these blocks for the remaining members of the public who are present in person to testify. The notice sent Wednesday warns that dependent upon how many people are left to testify at this point, the amount of time allotted for each person to speak may be adjusted.
Once everyone who is present in person has testified, the Committee will turn to Zoom to hear from those who are testifying virtually.
The day will close out with any testimony from members of the Legislature, including bill cosponsors.
Members of the public who wish to also submit written testimony are instructed to bring twenty paper copies with them to be distributed.
The message from OPLA notes that a copier is available in the Law Library on the Second Floor of the State House for a fee.
Under Rule 8 of the Judiciary Committee’s Rules of Procedure, Wednesday’s notice warns that persons “are not permitted to hold or display signs, posters, placards or props . . . in the committee room.”
Mainers may also submit written testimony online www.mainelegislature.org/testimony.
Because this is a consolidated hearing, testimony for all seven bills up for consideration will be heard together. Written testimony submitted online will still need to be directed at a specific piece of legislation.
Below is a brief rundown of the seven bills that are set to be featured at Friday’s public hearing.
LD 253 — An Act to Prevent the MaineCare Program from Covering Abortion Services
Rep. Kathy Irene Javner (R-Chester)
This bill would repeal the statute requiring the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide MaineCare coverage for abortion services, which are not paid for by the federal government through Medicaid.
Click Here for More Information on LD 253
LD 682 — An Act to Amend Certain Laws Regarding Abortions
Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot)
This bill looks to reverse the changes made by a controversial abortion law signed into law just shy of two years ago.
The 2023 law, known as LD 1619, allowed women to have an abortion “after viability” if it is deemed “necessary in the professional judgment of a physician.”
Previously, Maine law prohibited abortion after the point of viability except in cases where the life or health of the mother was in jeopardy.
[RELATED: GOP Lawmakers Look to Reverse Controversial Abortion Bill from 2023]
This legislation would reinstate the viability threshold, while also allowing for abortions in the case of a lethal fetal anomaly.
For the purposes of this bill, a lethal fetal anomaly is defined as a condition diagnosed before birth that would, “with reasonable certainty,” result in the child’s death within three months of birth.
This legislation would also reestablish criminal liability for performing an abortion without a license or after the point of viability, except in the outlined circumstances.
Click Here for More Information on LD 682
LD 886 — An Act to Regulate Medication Abortions
Rep. Abigail W. Griffin (R-Levant)
This bill aims to regulate medication abortions, or abortions that result from taking a medication as opposed to from a surgical procedure.
Under this legislation, people would be prohibited from purchasing the abortion drugs online, instead requiring that it be obtained only from a qualified medical professional who oversees the abortion in person.
Health professionals would also be required to inform patients of what a medication abortion involves and what they are likely to experience as a result of it, including “physical, emotional or spiritual risks.”
They would also need to inform patients what, if any, effects of a medication abortion can be reversed.
Click Here for More Information on LD 886
LD 887 — An Act to Make Manufacturers Responsible for Proper Disposal of Abortion Drugs and Require a Health Care Provider to Be Physically Present During a Chemical Abortion
Rep. Reagan L. Paul (R-Winterport)
This bill also looks to regulate medication abortions, as well as ensure that the drugs involved in these procedures are properly disposed.
Under this legislation, doctors would be barred from prescribing abortion medication remotely, instead requiring a physical exam prior to prescription. It would also be mandated that doctors be physically present for the medication abortion itself and for a follow up visit to be scheduled within seven days.
Doctors would need to issue a “catch kit” and a hazardous medical waste bag alongside the abortion pill to dispose of the fetal remains, preventing them from being flushed into sewer systems and polluting them with chemical runoff.
Any doctor caught providing or attempting to provide a chemical abortion in violation of the new restrictions will be guilty of a Class C felony.
This bill would also hold manufacturers of abortion pills responsible for properly disposing of discarded pills that can release harmful endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which cause a wide range of medical issues from infertility to cancer.
Under the bill, the manufacturers would be held civilly liable if endocrine disruptors from improper pill disposal are discovered in wastewater, facing fines of up to $20,000.
Click Here for More Information on LD 887
LD 975 — An Act to Repeal Laws Allowing Abortion and to Criminalize Abortion
Rep. Abigail W. Griffin (R-Levant)
This bill would make abortion completely illegal in the State of Maine. It would also specify that the term “human being” refers to a human being “beginning at the moment of conception.”
As a result of this, statutes prohibiting murder, assault, domestic violence assault and other offenses against a human being would include unborn children.
It would further update the definition of “family planning services” to exclude “health care and education relating to abortion.”
This legislation would also require that all miscarriages be reported promptly to the state government. The identity of those involved in any given report would be made confidential.
Under this bill, abortion would be defined as: “the intentional interruption of a pregnancy by the application of external agents, whether chemical or physical, or the ingestion of chemical agents with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus, regardless of the length of gestation.”
A miscarriage would be considered: “an interruption of a pregnancy other than by abortion of a fetus of less than 20 weeks gestation.”
Click Here for More Information on LD 975
LD 1007 — An Act to Update the State’s Informed Consent Laws Regarding Drug-induced Abortion (Rep. Paul)
Rep. Reagan L. Paul (R-Winterport)
This bill, which seeks to tackle medication abortions, would require doctors to inform women about the possibility of reversing the effects of a drug-induced abortion when obtaining their informed consent.
More specifically, doctors would need to tell patients that the effects of a medication abortion may be reversed without any impact on the health or welfare of the unborn child but that “time is of the essence.”
It would also mandate that the following statement be read and provided in writing to women seeking a medication abortion: “Information on the potential ability of qualified health care professionals to reverse the effects of an abortion obtained through the use of abortion-inducing drugs is available by visiting [insert publicly accessible website address provided by Department of Health and Human Services], a publicly accessible website that provides information regarding abortion pill reversal or contacting [insert phone number provided by Department of Health and Human Services], an abortion pill reversal helpline for assistance in locating a health care professional who can aid in the reversal of an abortion.”
Click Here for More Information on LD 1007
LD 1154 — An Act to Require That Informed Consent for Abortion Include Information on Perinatal Hospice
Rep. Reagan L. Paul (R-Winterport)
This bill would require that “perinatal hospice services” be provided to women who have been told that their unborn child “has a life-limiting condition and may die before or shortly after birth.”
This care may include “counseling and medical care by a maternal and fetal medical specialist, obstetrician, neonatologist, anesthesia specialist, member of the clergy, social worker or specialty nurse focused on alleviating fear and ensuring that the woman and the woman’s family experience the life and death of the child in a comfortable and supportive environment.”
Women seeking an abortion after receiving such a diagnosis, except in the case of a medical emergency, must be made aware that these services are available as an alternative and be provided a list of what they can access.
If this care is declined, a woman would be required to certify in writing that she declined these services and wants to proceed with an abortion.
Just like the last public hearing they had on abortion, where THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE spoke out AGAINST Janet Mills abortion proposal, and she went ahead and passed it anyways????? It doesn’t matter to Mills or the democRATS how many people speak out against anything. They’ll just pass their agenda proposals regardless.
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