On Friday, H.P. 635 was presented to the Maine Committee on Judiciary. If made law, this bill would end abortion in Maine. As presently written, this bill proposes the following:
1. Repeals the authority of District Court to grant the right to an abortion to a minor.
2. Redefines “Reproductive Healthcare Services” in 14 MRSA 9002 to exclude abortion.
3. Repeals the crime of Elevated Aggravated Assault Upon A Pregnant Person in 17-A MRSA 208-C. Presumably, this is specifically to allow for prosecution of abortion providers, which are called out in MRSA Title 17‑A, section 208-C as being exempt from this law.
4. Repeals the crime of Domestic Violence Elevated Aggravated Assault Upon A Pregnant Person in 17-A MRSA 208-F. The assumed motivation here is to make it more likely pregnant people get assaulted.
5. Removes Elevated Aggravated Assault and Domestic Violence Elevated Aggravated Assault from the list of prior convictions that will elevate any subsequent charges for Domestic Violence, Domestic Terrorizing, Domestic Violence Stalking, and Domestic Violence Reckless Conduct from a misdemeanor to a felony.
6. Repeals the authority of police to arrest suspected domestic abusers of pregnant people under the Domestic Violence Elevated Aggravated Assault and Elevated Aggravated Assault Upon a Pregnant Person statutes, which are to be repealed.
7. Allows the Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Panel to keep medical records of all citizens’ abortions. Currently, retaining these records is illegal.
8. Prohibits the Department of Health from considering abortion access when permitting new medical facilities.
9. Repeals 22 MRSA 263-B, which details a citizen’s abortion rights and medical providers’ responsibilities.
10.Requires all miscarriages to be reported to the state by our healthcare providers within 10 days of the miscarriage.
11.Removes abortion care from any Medicaid recipients’ coverage.
12.Removes confidentiality protections for abortion providers, so that the Department of Health would be required to provide a list of abortion providers to any citizen that requests the list.
13.Disallows an organization’s non-profit status if the organization performs abortions.
14.Ends the requirement for insurers operating in Maine to provide coverage for abortion.
Click here to read the source document H.P. 635, titled “An Act to Repeal Laws Allowing Abortion and to Criminalize
Abortion.”