Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Republican state Senator Lisa Keim acts to revoke MaineCare coverage of abortion 

For Immediate Release: March 30, 2023


The GOP lawmaker seeks to overturn a law passed by the state legislature in 2019 providing coverage of the medical procedure for low-income people 

(Portland, MAINE) – A Republican lawmaker Thursday submitted an amendment to the Maine state budget proposal that would take away MaineCare coverage of abortion services. State Senator Lisa Keim (R-Oxford) sponsored the proposal, one that GOP politicians have attempted and failed to pass in every legislative session since 2019, when lawmakers enacted a policy that guarantees private and public insurance coverage for abortion care.  

The amendment is the latest in a slew of targeted attacks on pregnant people and Maine families that has only intensified since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion last year. Today, one in three women live in a part of the country without access to safe, legal abortion. 

In January, GOP lawmakers introduced anti-abortion bill titles aimed at obstructing Mainers’ ability to exercise their reproductive rights in Maine. The proposed legislation inserts politicians between patients and their medical providers and represents incredible government overreach. Some examples include:    

  • LR 894, An Act to Require an Ultrasound and Certain Counseling Before an Abortion, sponsored by Rep. Abigail Griffin (would force unnecessary medical procedures and biased counseling)  

  • LD 494, An Act to Conform MaineCare to the Federal Hyde Amendment, sponsored by Rep. Kathy Javner (would force the denial of abortion coverage for low-income Mainers)  

  • LD 771, An Act to Protect a Woman's Right to Withdraw Consent for an Abortion, sponsored by Sen. Eric Brakey (likely connected to the false and dangerous myth of abortion reversal)    

  • LR 1197, An Act to Prevent Coerced Abortion, sponsored by Rep. Amy Arata (aimed at perpetuating lies and myths about providers and their care for their patients)  

  • LD 1249, An Act to Protect the Quality of Care Provided via Telehealth by Prohibiting Physicians from Prescribing Abortion-inducing Drugs Through Telehealth, sponsored by Rep. Reagan Paul (targets access to medication abortion for rural Mainers)  

Statement from Nicole Clegg, Acting CEO, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England: 

“Abortion is a safe and legal component of comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare. This latest cruel attempt to deny Maine’s most vulnerable people affordable access to medical care is not surprising, but it is alarming. 

Let’s be clear. Legislators opposed to abortion will not stop until our reproductive freedom is completely taken away, even here in Maine. Instead of focusing on policies that will improve the lives of Mainers, lawmakers like Senator Keim are fixated on making it as hard as possible for someone to end a pregnancy. This is what is at the top of their agendas.  

A majority of Mainers and a majority of Americans want abortion to remain safe and accessible. These political stunts demonstrate how wildly out of touch Senator Keim and the Maine GOP are with Maine values." 

### 

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. 

This page is controlled and operated by Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund.

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our Necessary Cookies as they are deployed to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

Performance

On

We use qualitative data, including session replay, to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services.

Analytics

On

We use web analytics to help us understand user engagement with our website, trends, and overall reach of our products.