AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills signed Tuesday a “shield” law meant to protect out-of-state patients who receive gender-affirming or abortion care in Maine from legal action in conservative-led states.
The measure from Rep. Anne Perry, D-Calais, will take effect in mid-July and outlaws “interference” from other states with abortion and gender-affirming care treatment legally protected in Maine. It seeks to protect doctors and patients from prosecution or litigation in other states and allows them to use Maine courts to sue states that pursue legal action against them.
Around a dozen states have similar laws on the books, while roughly half of states have moved to ban or sharply restrict abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
“While some politicians relentlessly attack people who seek, and those who provide, reproductive and gender affirming care, the state of Maine is standing up to the send the clear and unequivocal message that we will protect patients and medical providers from the hostile, discriminatory actions of out-of-state politicians trying to exact extreme agendas,” Mills said.
Most Democrats supported Perry’s bill over Republican opposition, with conservatives complaining after the measure was initially introduced last year as a vague “concept draft” before the language was added in a few days before its March public hearing.
Perry received an emailed threat in early March, when a bomb threat also led to a State House evacuation. Floor debate on the measure also turned heated after Rep. Michael Lemelin, R-Chelsea, claimed the Lewiston mass shooting was God’s response to last year’s separate measure from Mills allowing doctors to perform abortions deemed necessary after what had been a viability cutoff. The House responded by censuring Lemelin and Rep. Shelley Rudnicki, R-Fairfield, after she said she agreed with Lemelin’s remarks.
Republican attorneys general in 16 states threatened to sue Maine over the bill. But Attorney General Aaron Frey defended the measure. Medical groups were among its supporters, while Maine sheriffs asked that lawmakers strike a part of the law prohibiting police from cooperating with another state’s investigation if they know it solely revolves around legal abortion or gender-affirming care.
The shield law was a top priority in Maine for advocates such as Planned Parenthood, amid a presidential election year in which abortion remains an important ballot issue in states around the country. A proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in Maine will not appear on the November ballot after lawmakers failed to give it the required two-thirds support.
In a University of New Hampshire Survey Center Pine Tree State Poll released Tuesday, Mills’ approval rating remained steady around 53 percent, with the highest percentage of respondents — 22 percent — listing her “handling of abortion” as contributing to their approval.
Supporters of Maine’s shield law noted President Joe Biden’s administration also finalized a related federal rule this week that bans the disclosure of protected health information related to abortion and other reproductive health care.
On the opposing side, Christian Civic League of Maine Policy Director Mike McClellan called it “terrible legislation” and added “elections matter.” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who led the 16 Republican officials in opposing the Maine proposal, said if “a Maine court refuses to enforce a valid Tennessee court order, or if any Tennessee official is sued under this new law for enforcing a valid Tennessee law, I will sue and I will win.”
Lisa Margulies, Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund’s vice president of public affairs, said the state is sending a “clear message” with the new law that “Maine remains a safe harbor for sexual and reproductive health care, for providers and the patients they serve.”
“Clinicians deserve to serve their patients without fear of persecution by out-of-state politicians wholly unqualified to weigh in on personal medical decisions,” Margulies added.