House rejects bill on 24-hour wait for abortion

AUGUSTA – In what opponents described as an “affirmation of the status quo,” a series of bills affecting the delivery of abortion services were handily defeated Thursday in the Maine House.

“These bills come to the floor with little new information,” said House Majority Leader John Richardson, D-Brunswick. “Few, if any, lawmakers could be convinced to change their minds by a debate on the issues.”

Still, one proposal – LD 798 – managed to generate about 45 minutes of discussion as House members argued the need for a mandated 24-hour waiting period before a woman could receive an abortion. The legislation required that a woman receive scripted counseling, from a pamphlet distributed by the Bureau of Health detailing abortion risks, the day before the procedure would be performed. Copies of the brochure would be sent to all Maine physicians. The bill estimated it would cost the state $20,000 to develop and print the brochure.

The issue of waiting periods first surfaced in the Maine Legislature 20 years ago and has been reintroduced four times in the last 10 years.

Opponents of the legislation – including the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Public Health Association and two nurses’ associations – have argued that state-scripted counseling would force a physician to “dramatically overstate” the risks associated with what many health care officials have described as the safest surgical procedure in the country.

Critics also maintained the legislation interfered with the patient-physician relationship.

Passions crossed party lines on the issue, which has divided Catholic Democrats in the state. Rep. Ross Paradis, D-Frenchville, joined several conservative Republicans in supporting the measure, which he said reflects the vast majority of Mainers who find themselves caught between the polarized positions of pro-life and pro-choice factions.

“The real goal of women and men is to reduce the number of abortions and promote life,” he said. “Life, what a beautiful choice. Life, the first and most important of our inalienable rights. LD 798 would help pregnant women – who are very often scared teenagers – avert making a bad decision that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

Rep. Brian M. Duprey, R-Hampden, said the bill continues to keep abortion “perfectly legal” and accessible while allowing women to make informed choices.

“Knowledge is power,” Duprey said. “Why should we be afraid of women having knowledge?”

But House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Norbert, D-Portland, insisted the legislation was unnecessary since the delivery of medical services in most parts of the state amounted to a defacto waiting period. He also praised Maine’s informed-consent laws requiring doctors to review the medical risks associated with an abortion and to go over those in writing. Physicians are also obligated to provide counseling options when requested.

“I think a main reason the medical community is so opposed to this is because the bill doesn’t trust our doctors,” Norbert said. “I believe we should put our trust in Maine women to make the right decisions and in our Maine doctors who are ethical, have taken sworn oaths, have canons which govern their behavior and who are regulated by this informed consent law.”

The House affirmed the Judiciary Committee’s 7-6 majority ought-not-to-pass recommendation in a 86-54 vote. They were joined earlier in the day by the Senate, which voted 21-13 to support the committee’s decision. The bill is now effectively dead.

Four other abortion bills were rejected in the House, each by ratios of nearly 3-1. They included:

. Requiring more information about abortion risks in Maine’s implied-consent law.

. Eliminating criminal immunity for physicians who report data on an abortion.

. Mandating new licensing and inspection rules for abortion facilities.

. Holding doctors responsible for mental health costs for minors if an abortion was performed without parental or court consent.

All four bills are awaiting votes in the Senate.