Maine’s Democratic-controlled Legislature gave final approval Friday to a bill that would protect health care workers who provide abortion and gender-affirming care from legal action brought in other states.
If signed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, Maine would join more than a dozen states that shield medical providers and others from out-of-state investigations related to abortions. Republicans staunchly opposed the bill to protect themselves from out-of-state lawsuits.
The Maine Senate voted 21-13 on Friday, a day after a 76-67 vote in the House of Representatives.
The votes came after attorneys general in 16 states, including Tennessee, threatened legal action if Maine moves forward with a shield law that would prevent out-of-state repercussions for those who perform abortions and what they describe as “gender transition surgeries for children.”
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey called the charges “meritless” and said shield laws were necessary because of other states’ efforts “to punish lawful conduct outside their borders that occurs in Maine and other states.”
“Harmony among our states would best be preserved and promoted through the exercise of restraint by all parties seeking to control health care-related policy choices in other states,” Frey previously said in a statement.
There was lively debate about the measure in Maine.
On Thursday, the Maine House censured two lawmakers after one of them accused legislative colleagues of bringing the wrath of God in the form of mass shootings and recent storms by enacting such laws. The lawmaker, and another who agreed with him, had to formally apologize in the House of Representatives in order to speak and vote.
“We are grateful and proud of all the lawmakers in the Legislature who withstood the threat of violence, abhorrent political rhetoric, and rampant misinformation to stand up and vote to protect safe, legal medical care in Maine,” says Lisa Margulies of Planned Parenthood Maine. Action Fund.
Abortion is legal in Maine at all stages of pregnancy, with a doctor’s permission. And lawmakers last year passed a bill to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to receive limited gender-affirming care, which does not include surgery, in some cases without parental consent. However, Maine law does not allow gender reassignment surgery without parental consent for minors.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ended the nation’s right to abortion, states have moved in opposite directions. Most of those under Republican control are now under bans or other restrictions. Fourteen states now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. Most Democratic-dominated states have acted to protect access.
At least thirteen states have laws protecting medical providers and others from out-of-state abortion investigations — and at least nine, including Maine, have executive orders establishing similar policies.
The same applies to gender-affirming care for minors.
At least 24 states have passed laws in the past three years that ban or restrict treatments including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender confirmation surgery — which is rare in younger patients — for minors. At least twelve states have shield laws governing gender-affirming care, and two have executive orders.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.