Bangor doctor Harris, 62, dies Physician known as champion of health services for women

BANGOR – A retired Bangor physician and champion of women’s health services died of cancer Sunday while visiting his daughter and grandchildren in Portland, Ore.

Dr. Parker F. Harris, 62, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, practiced in Bangor for 25 years and served two terms on the Bangor School Committee. A Presque Isle native, Harris began practicing in Bangor in 1974.

He was a pro-choice advocate who testified before the Legislature opposing efforts to limit women’s access to abortion services and quietly provided free or low-cost medical care to low-income women and girls.

“Plain and simple, he was our hero,” Ruth Lockhart, executive director of the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center, said Wednesday. “He was the only physician in the Bangor area who consistently provided free or low-cost services for low-income women. He’s done so much for the health of women in Maine, some in public, but most often quietly.”

Lockhart recalled Harris as a man of conviction.

“He never shrank from politics,” she said. “He fought really hard to keep abortions safe, legal and accessible in Maine. He donated his time, money and equipment to [the center] to make sure we succeeded. The legacy that he created and the gap that’s created by his passage will take a long time to fill.”

Harris was thrust into the limelight in 1995 when pro-life activists picketed his Bangor home and the homes of other abortion providers. Longtime abortion protester Terence Hughes of Orono led the demonstration, the first of its kind in Maine. Harris captured on a video a white van driving in front of his house with a sign saying, “Harris Kills Babies.”

The Bangor City Council passed an ordinance to limit such picketing, but it was ruled unconstitutional in 3rd District Court in Bangor in 1996. An appeal to Penobscot County Superior Court also was denied, but local pro-life activists appear to have abandoned the tactic.

While Harris may be remembered best as a pro-choice activist and abortion provider, his activism began as soon as he arrived in town, according to Dr. Michael Solomon, a Bangor OB-GYN who moved to town in 1975.

“He was very socially conscious and had strong feelings about women’s rights back then,” said Solomon. “Natural childbirth, husbands in labor and delivery rooms, fetal monitoring and laparoscopic surgery – all things we take for granted now – he helped bring those issues to the forefront.”

Harris served on the Bangor School Committee for two three-year terms from 1988 to 1994. Martha Newman, still a member of the board, remembered the physician as “polite, kind and interested in educational issues.”

He also supported a controversial plan for an adolescent health care clinic at Bangor High School.

He graduated from the University of Maine and the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He interned at Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was a fellow in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and served as legislative representative from the Maine section of ACOG in the late 1980s.

Harris retired from practice in 2000 after being diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Linda, and two grown daughters.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Maine Center for the Arts at the University of Maine.