Maine leaders honor a woman’s right to choose

Few people anticipate the New Year that we do. By the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision, we will have learned of the latest attempts to restrict access to safe, legal abortions in Maine. Every legislative session, we face a dozen or more bills seeking to undermine our ability to provide unbiased and respectful care to women facing unintended pregnancies. The year 2005 will be no different.

A dozen bill titles have been submitted that seek to alter Maine’s abortion laws. These laws were carefully reviewed in the early ’90s by legislators representing both sides of the issue. Since then, they have been recognized as national models by states interested in our success at reducing our abortion rate by half in only 12 years.

Maine’s success has not gone unnoticed. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others, credits Maine’s family planning programs and school-based, comprehensive family life education, which provides information on

both abstinence and contraception, for this reduction.

But these trends don’t deter those determined to restrict access to safe and legal abortions. So once again, we must allocate scarce resources – resources that could be used for prevention programs – to counter efforts to undermine decades of work in reducing the need for abortion.

Why has the Legislature rejected this annual flood of anti-choice bills? Because our laws already appropriately regulate abortion care. Current law states that: a physician cannot provide abortion services to a woman without her written consent and that she must be informed of the particular risks associated with the procedure; at her request, a pregnant woman must receive information on alternatives to abortion; and a minor is allowed access to abortion services only with the consent of a parent, a family member, a judge, or after receiving counseling from a designated counselor. Maine’s abortion-related laws are comprehensive and carefully designed to ensure that women receive the care and information they need to make informed decisions.

These bills have been debated before, specifically, a bill that attempts to impose a 24-hour waiting period for women electing to have an abortion has been introduced five out of the last six legislative sessions. Maine’s Legislature has determined again and again that waiting periods fail to help women make a more informed decision, but rather, restrict access. States with mandated waiting periods have found that the required delay does not decrease the number of women electing to go forward with their decision, but instead, increases the number of second trimester abortions.

In 1989, the Legislature recognized the need to address the issues that arise when a minor faces an unintended pregnancy, passing the groundbreaking “Adult Involvement Law,” in response to a broad consensus that young women under eighteen making decisions about their pregnancies need support and guidance. Clearly minors should not – and need not – make these decisions alone. Parental involvement is the standard for young women facing crisis pregnancies. However, when this is not possible, Maine teens have the option of turning to another trusted adult for support.

Since its passage, bills have been introduced every session to repeal this critical option for young women living in dangerous situations. This year is no different; a handful of bills have been introduced that seek to strip the counseling option from the law, leaving young women that are the victims of incest or sexual abuse few safe options.

We also face another unvarnished effort to strengthen arguments to overturn Roe v. Wade by creating a legal definition of an “unborn child” in Maine law. Crimes involving domestic violence against pregnant women are particularly horrific and deserve an open and honest discussion in the Legislature, but using these crimes to promote anti-choice legislation is reprehensible. We support Senate President Beth Edmonds’ Motherhood Protection Act, which addresses the murder of pregnant women in the context

of heinous crimes against women without the inevitable debate over reproductive rights.

Attempts to restrict access to reproductive health care concern us, as they should all Mainers. However, Mainers who care deeply about a woman’s right to determine her reproductive future should be reassured by the Maine Legislature’s record of support for programs designed to reduce the need for abortion while making certain that if needed, it’s available in a medically safe and legally protected environment. As we recognize the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we thank Maine leaders for honoring a woman’s right to choose, and encourage them, in this New Year, to continue to do so.

The authors direct three not-for-profit reproductive health care centers that provide abortion services in Maine. Ruth L. Lockhart is the executive director of the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center; George A. Hill is president/CEO of the Family Planning Association of Maine; and Nancy Mosher is president/CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.