Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund releases legislative scorecards
For Immediate Release: July 8, 2024
As attacks on reproductive rights continue, voters remain motivated by abortion, related care
(Portland, MAINE) - Twenty-one Maine State Senators and 74 Maine State Representatives have earned 100% voting records from Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund for their votes on policy regarding reproductive rights and related care during the 131st legislative session.
The 131st legislative session, which encompasses both 2023 and 2024, was the first full session since the U.S. Supreme Court revoked federal protections for abortion and sent the country into a reproductive health care crisis.
A majority of Maine’s elected leaders rose to the moment and voted to enact policies that protect and expand access to abortion and related care while also defeating proposed legislation that would have restricted access.
In 2024, key bills included LD 780, which proposed protecting the right to reproductive autonomy in the state constitution, and LD 227, which will protect Maine’s providers of reproductive care and care for transgender people from attacks based on other state’s laws.
LD 780 did not achieve the two-thirds majority required for proposed constitutional amendments in either the house or the senate to move forward, with votes mostly along party lines. Two Democrats in the House joined Republicans in defeating that measure and denying Mainers the opportunity to weigh in on this issue at the ballot box.
Two Democrats in the House also joined Republicans in voting against LD 227, but that bill ultimately passed with simple majorities in both chambers and will become law in August 2024.
In 2023, a majority of lawmakers voted to pass LD 1478, a bill aimed at funding critical family planning services in Maine and supporting the state’s health care infrastructure to ensure providers across the state can continue to provide essential care to Mainers no matter where they live or their ability to pay. Unfortunately, that bill remained in process as regular session ended in 2024 and was carried over pending a potential special session but is unlikely to move forward.
Another bill considered during the 2024 session, LD 2203, would have increased access to contraception by requiring insurance companies to cover FDA-approved over-the-counter oral birth control without cost sharing. That bill was approved by both chambers of the legislature and secured funding but was ultimately not signed into law due to procedural issues. The bill was carried over pending a potential special session but is unlikely to move forward.
Following the close of the 2024 session, Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund PAC endorsed a pro-reproductive rights challenger in a primary race to unseat one of the Democrats who voted against both LD 780 and LD 227 as well as many other important proposals over the past several years. Cassie Julia’s victory over incumbent Bruce White showed, once again, that when voters are aware of how their elected leaders represent them in Augusta, they will hold them accountable at the ballot box.
Most Mainers, like most Americans, want abortion to remain safe and legal, and majorities of Americans across party lines believe it should be easier to access reproductive health care including abortion, contraception and fertility treatments. June 2024 polling shows voters are unwilling to support political candidates who want to restrict or ban abortion and related care.
Yet attacks on reproductive rights and freedoms have only intensified since June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped people of their right to make personal, private medical decisions without political interference. Anti-abortion extremists have employed every tool at their disposal to force doctors to prioritize politics over medicine and endanger the lives of pregnant people across the country.
View the full scorecard here.
Statement from Lisa Margulies, Esq., Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund
“With every seat in the Maine legislature up for grabs in November, it’s essential that voters have tools to understand where their elected leaders stand on key issues, including reproductive health care. This scorecard shows which elected officials voted with the majority of Mainers and Maine values on reproductive rights and freedoms, and which chose to ignore the will of their constituents.
No one is more qualified to make decisions about pregnancy than patients and their medical providers, and we don’t need or want politicians in our exam rooms. Everyone deserves to get the care they need throughout pregnancy without political interference.
Mainers have shown that they are ready and willing to hold their elected leaders accountable at the ballot box, and we will continue to shine a light on how legislators vote on reproductive rights. We will never stop fighting for everyone to have access to the sexual and reproductive health care they need, when they need it.”
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Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Maine. PPNNE has four health centers in Maine and sees more than 12,000 patients a year.