ACLU Applauds Judiciary Committee Rejection of Anti-Choice Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Judiciary Committee today voted “ought not to pass” on three anti-choice bills that could make it harder for Maine women to access the health care they need. Maine law already requires informed consent for abortion, requires that minors involve a parent, family member or licensed counselor when seeking an abortion, and provides civil damages to a woman who suffers harm during a pregnancy.

LD 760 would require doctors to tell women unnecessary, coercive information before they could obtain an abortion. LD 1339 would repeal Maine’s successful adult involvement law and replace it with strict parental consent. And LD 1193 seeks to convey legal status to a fetus, including granting the fetus legal rights to “heirs and an estate.”

The ACLU of Maine applauded the committee’s rejection of the bills. The following can be attributed to Shenna Bellows, executive director of the ACLU of Maine:

“We applaud the committee for standing up for women’s health and rejecting these three bad bills, which are very clearly aimed at chipping away at abortion rights. Maine law already recognizes that women take the decision about whether to have an abortion very seriously. The government should not be placing added burdens and pressures on women as they make these difficult and personal decisions.”