Maine lawmakers have power to protect reproductive freedom in Maine as IVF, birth control come under attack in other states 

(Portland, MAINE) – As politicians opposed to comprehensive reproductive health care scramble to redefine their public positions on invitro fertilization (IVF) following a state supreme court ruling in Alabama declaring frozen embryos the legal equivalent of children, anti-abortion lawmakers continue their push to take away rights and access to essential health care at state and federal levels.  

In Maine, lawmakers are considering bills this session that could expand access and increase affordability of contraception and explicitly enshrine the right to reproductive autonomy, which includes the rights to abortion care and to access fertility treatments such as IVF. 

Republican lawmakers in Alabama and across the country have tried to distance themselves from the Alabama court ruling, which resulted in clinics pausing IVF services, interrupting the process of these fertility treatments for families hoping to become pregnant through the technology. A growing share of Americans report either using IVF or knowing someone who has. Democrats in Congress seek to force a vote on a bill protecting IVF specifically, while 125 Republican House members have co-sponsored a bill that would define fetal personhood, a longtime goal of people opposed to abortion and related care. That bill has no provisions for procedures like IVF. 

Fetal personhood legislation seeks to define in law that embryos or fetuses have the full rights of a person based on the idea that life begins at conception. Anti-abortion extremists have advocated for these laws for more than a century, and state lawmakers have clamored to enact fetal personhood legislation since Dobbs. At least 14 fetal personhood bills have been introduced in state legislatures in 2024 alone. The laws, which imperil access to fertility treatments including IVF, are often used to criminalize pregnant people and disrupt medical care during pregnancy. 

In addition to IVF, contraception and abortion care remain under attack both at state and federal levels. Politicians in Oklahoma and Michigan have recently threatened to ban certain forms of birth control, and anti-abortion allies of former president Donald Trump are strategizing to restrict abortion at the federal level. 

In January, the Maine legislature’s Judiciary committee advanced LD 780, a proposed constitutional amendment explicitly enshrining the right to reproductive autonomy, sponsored by Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Sagadahoc), along party lines after hearing testimony in support of the bill from health care providers, medical associations, faith leaders and patient advocates. Two-dozen organizations including care providers, medical associations, faith organizations, civil rights and youth advocacy organizations also signed a letter in support of the proposal. 

Earlier this month, the legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIFS) committee held a hearing on LD 2203, a bill proposed by Rep. Poppy Arford (D-Brunswick) that would expand access and affordability of contraception by requiring insurers to cover all FDA-approved over-the-counter birth control without cost-sharing.  

Statement from Lisa Margulies, Esq., Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund 

“What we are seeing now with the news out of Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan and other states is what we have known all along: People opposed to abortion won’t stop until they have banned abortion nationwide, and they won’t stop at abortion. Their most recent targets are IVF and birth control, and they won’t stop there. 

Politicians who claim to support reproductive care and families while advocating for laws that prevent people from accessing essential medical care are not fooling anyone. Bans or restrictions on essential reproductive health care do nothing to protect anyone’s health or safety and have been devastating for patients and providers across the country.    

Since Dobbs, the disastrous consequences of attacks on this essential medical care are too numerous to count. But what they all have in common is that the politicians and judges behind these attacks are trying to take away our ability to make decisions about our own bodies and our own families. 

Maine has so far resisted attempts to restrict reproductive liberties, and our lawmakers must act now to safeguard our reproductive autonomy from future attacks. They can do that by voting to pass both LD 2203 and LD 780.” 

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Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Maine. PPNNE has four health centers in Maine and sees more than 12,000 patients a year.