The Maine House passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow providers of chemical abortion pills, such as mifepristone, to put the name of their medical facility, rather than their own name, on the labels of prescription bottles.
The Senate passed the same bill on Wednesday.
“This is not a neutral administrative change, it is a deliberate move to shield prescribers from accountability and in doing so, in compromises patient safety, regulatory oversight, and public trust. Every other category of prescription drugs maintains a standard,” said Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport), speaking against the bill on the House floor.
“The prescribing practitioner is identified by name. That is not a clerical detail, it’s a safeguard. It ensures that if something goes wrong, the patient and regulators know exactly who is responsible,” she added.
The bill anonymizing prescribers, LD 538, was sponsored by Rep. Sally Cluchey (D-Bowdoinham) and drew support from nine Democratic co-sponsors.
“This request comes directly from providers who are concerned for their own safety and the safety of their families. These health care providers have faced harassment through phone calls, text messages, and online threats. Their personal information has been shared publicly to incite violence,” said Rep. Cluchey testifying on the house floor.
“It is our responsibility as legislators to ensure that Mainers can engage in lawful work and activities without fear of being targeted, regardless of how we personally feel about those activities,” she added.
Normally, prescription bottles are required to have the name of the prescribing physician on them. This bill would apply a different standard to prescriptions for chemical abortion drugs and would allow a physician to request that their institution, rather than their personal name, appear on the drug bottle.
Paul warned during her floor speech that this would lead to a lack of accountability for malpractice surrounding abortion drugs and argued that it could be used to allow remote prescriptions in which a patient may never even learn the name of the prescribing physician.
“This proposal opens the door for broader untraceable use of remote prescribing, where a patient may never meet or even know the name of the individual prescribing the drug, and that is a dangerous precedent,” said Paul.
“If a young woman experiences complications, hemorrhaging, infection, or worse, she deserves to know the name of the medical professional who prescribed her the drug,” she added.
Rep. Robert Foley (R-Wells) expressed his concerns on the floor that the bill could violate federal law.
“If enacted, the bill requires that Maine pharmacists break federal law. Current federal law requires all prescription drug labels include the prescriber’s name,” said Rep. Foley.
Despite concerns from Republicans, the bill passed through the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services with a divided report, but with a majority “ought to pass as amended” recommendation.
The House voted on Tuesday to accept the majority recommendation in a 75-71 vote, split along party lines.
On Wednesday, the Senate took up the bill and passed it with a 19-13 vote. Though the Senate vote was split largely along party lines, one Republican, Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), broke with his party and supported the bill.
