Last Month of the Legislature: Attacks on Choice & Voting

June marks the end of the legislative session in Maine, and there are still several bills that the ACLU of Maine lobby team is actively working to defeat.  Here are some of our top priorities for defeat:

Attacks on Legal Abortion:  There are three anti-abortion bills pending in the legislature, and the Judiciary Committee votes against the bills were very close, meaning we have work to do to defeat the bills on the House and Senate floor.

LD 760 -- This biased scripting bill would replace Maine's informed consent law with a specific script for doctors to read to women, the purpose being to shame a woman into thinking twice about having an abortion.
LD 1339 -- This bill would replace Maine's adult involvement law, which is working well, with a strict parental consent requirement.  The only way to bypass parental consent in the bill would be for the teen to report one of her parents as an abuser in a signed statement or going to court.
LD 1193 -- This bill seeks to create separate legal status for the fetus, giving the fetus rights of "heirs and an estate."  Maine already has laws on the books that allow a woman and her family to sue if the woman suffers harm to her pregnancy, but this law would provide legal rights to the fetus, independent from the mother.

Attack on Voting:
LD 573 -- This bill would amend the Maine Constitution to take away voting rights for certain felons.  Maine's Constitution protects the right to vote for all people in Maine, and it's concerning that some in the legislature seek to amend the Constitution to take away rights.  LD 573 targets people who are in prison in Maine for ten years or more and seeks to prohibit them from voting during their incarceration.  Restricting voting rights does nothing to prevent crime or compensate victims.  Rather, disenfranchisement is harmful to the successful integration of prisoners back into society over the long-term.  Moreover, felon disenfranchisement policies across the country have had a disproportionate impact on people of color.

Constituent contact can make or break a vote, and we've seen issues come down to a single Senate vote in the past.  So take time now, and contact your legislators.  Here's a link where you can find your legislator.  Let them know that you support the Constitution and that means supporting a woman's right to choose and voting rights for all people.  And thank you!