LD 820, An Act to Prevent Discrimination in Public and Private Insurance Coverage for Pregnant Women in Maine, proposes a halt to discriminating against low-income people seeking abortion and supports the principle that access to safe and legal health care services should not depend on how much money a person makes or what type of insurance they have. As it stands now, a person living in Maine with MaineCare, the state’s version of Medicaid, will receive full health care coverage for carrying a pregnancy to term, but abortion is not covered at all. LD 820 would require both public and private insurance to cover the full range of pregnancy-related health care, meaning that any insurance available to Mainers must cover abortion if it covers carrying a pregnancy to term.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the country, making it an accessible health care service. Four years later in 1976, the Hyde Amendment was applied to the ruling, which blocked federal funding from being used for abortion services, with extremely narrow exceptions. The amendment, which is still in effect today, means that anyone with federal health insurance does not have coverage for a safe, common and legal health care service.
The Hyde Amendment has the largest impact on people who qualify for MaineCare due to living at or below the federal poverty line, which disproportionately includes black and brown folks, people living in rural areas, and women. As it stands today, abortion for many is legal in theory but inaccessible in reality.
While the Hyde Amendment remains the law of the federal land, states have the ability to independently fund public health care to include coverage for abortion services, ensuring equal access to health care. States can do this through the legislative or judicial process, and 15 states have done so.
Last year, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard a case brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine against the Maine Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of the three reproductive health care centers in Maine, including Maine Family Planning, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and The Mable Wadsworth Center. The case appealed the earlier decision that found in favor of Maine’s current policy of following the Hyde Amendment and denying funding for abortion services to MaineCare recipients. Arguments to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court were held May 16, 2018, but the court has yet to publish their decision.
LD 820 would ensure all people with insurance have equal access to abortion services through the legislative process rather than the judicial. This bill would put a stop to financially interfering in a person’s fundamental right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy and help end discrimination against people who poor and decide to have an abortion.
As a social worker committed to service and personal autonomy, I support a person’s right to self-determination, and believe we all have the right to make decisions about our own reproductive lives and families. Additionally, I am concerned that as long as certain people are barred from accessing the same choices as others, because of how much money they earn or what type of insurance they have, we are living in a state of social injustice. I find this intolerable, and therefore I support LD 820. Maine people have the right to be free from coercion and to raise the families they choose, which includes deciding when, if and how to have children.
Emily Fortin of Wayne is a licensed social worker who works with families in Kennebec County. She is working toward a master’s degree in social work.