Maine lawmakers face down death threats & advance bill protecting gender-affirming care

Lawmakers in Maine voted this week to advance a bill making the state a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming care, in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, and abortions.

On Thursday, Maine’s House and Senate both approved Legislative Document 227, which would provide “protections to persons who seek, health care practitioners who provide and those who assist health care practitioners in providing gender-affirming health care services and reproductive health care services” that are legal in Maine. LD 227 establishes that access to such treatment is a legal right and that “interference with access to such services or the provision of such services is against the public policy of this State.”

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The law also protects people who seek and doctors who provide legal healthcare in the state of Maine from legal action in other states with laws banning or restricting such healthcare services. Doctors who provide legal healthcare services in Maine would also have the right to sue for damages if they are targeted for legal action by other states.

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The bill, which is similar to others passed in states like Massachusetts and Vermont, has been controversial. Conservative opponents have tried to cast it as a measure that will allow widespread child trafficking, with Maine Republicans taking to calling LD 227 the “transgender trafficking bill.”

A previous measure, LD 1735, which only addressed gender-affirming care, was abandoned in January following a similar conservative disinformation campaign.

In early March, the Maine State House and the offices of the Maine Democratic Party were evacuated after multiple bomb threats targeting the state capitol and at least two specific lawmakers were received. Those threats, which turned out to be hoaxes, followed social media posts from anti-LGBTQ+ hate influencer Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok account about LD 227 and listing the names and email addresses of the bill’s sponsors, the Maine Morning Star reported.

Last month, 15 Republican state attorneys general, led by Tennessee AG Jonathan Skremetti, signed a letter opposing the bill, arguing that it “seeks to contravene the lawful policy choices of” their states’ citizens. Skremetti and his co-signers threatened to take legal action if the bill becomes law. The signers addressed their letter to Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Attorney General Aaron Frey (D), Senate President Troy Jackson, and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross — all Democrats.

In his response to Skremetti’s letter, Maine AG Frey wrote that his office was confident that LD 227 would hold up in court, citing legal limitations on one state’s obligation to honor a legal judgement in another, WMTW reported last month.

“We do have a right to disagree and I fully concur that one state cannot control another,” Frey wrote. “Recognizing these shared values, I welcome your respect for Maine’s ability to decide what access to health care people in Maine receive, free from interference by out-of-state actors.”

On Thursday, LGBTQ+ and reproductive freedom advocates cheered Maine lawmakers for advancing the bill, despite conservative threats.

Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), thanked the bill’s sponsors in both the Maine House and Senate.

“LD 227 is a straightforward bill that will protect Maine’s dedicated health care providers and safeguard access to essential reproductive health care and health care for transgender people in Maine,” Crozier said in a statement.

Lisa Margulies, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood’s Maine Action Fund, called it a “proud day for Mainers.”

“Twenty-one senators have voted to advance this bill that, at its core, is meant to protect Maine providers from hostile attacks and allow them to continue to practice essential, lifesaving medicine in our state without fear,” Margulies said in a statement.

“Extremists will continue to spread lies and hateful rhetoric about reproductive health care and care for transgender people, but today’s vote made clear that a majority of our elected leaders in the Maine State Senate will focus on the facts and act with compassion and urgency to meet our current moment with policy that is necessary and appropriate,” she added.