Around New England

Abortionists Want Maine To Pay For Abortions

May 16, 2018

The state of Maine doesn’t provide public money for abortions, but abortion providers want the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to rule that the state must.

The plaintiffs are the three abortion clinics in Maine. The executive director of one of them issued a press release arguing that it’s unfair for the state to use public money to help pregnant women who want to have their babies but not use public money to help pregnant women who want to abort their babies.

“We do not accept a policy that treats pregnant women in Maine according to two different standards – a woman should be able to use her Medicaid coverage for the medical services she needs, including abortion,” said Andrea Irwin, according to the Bangor Daily News.

An assistant attorney general representing the state, Susan Herman, told the court the plaintiffs had failed to provide a single case where a poor woman in Maine didn’t get an abortion because the state doesn’t pay for them.

One of the justices, Andrew Mead, “said the clinics were asking the court to do what lawmakers have so far refused to do, which is not the role of the judiciary,” according to the Bangor Daily News.

Massachusetts and Vermont provide public funds to pay for abortions for poor women, because the supreme court in each state ruled that the constitution in each state requires it.