News & Commentary

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously invalidated patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation. This is a huge victory not only for those seeking to have their genes tested in order to make informed medical decisions but for civil liberties, scientific freedom, patients, and the future of personalized medicine. 

The votes are in from the Maine House --- we protected a woman's right to privacy, her right to choose.  Here are the votes: 1) LD 1193, An Act to Allow a Wrongful Death Cause of Action for the Death of an Unborn Child Final Vote: 82 to 60, the majority Ought Not To Pass Motion carries 2) LD 760, An Act Regarding Informed Consent to an Abortion Final Vote: 90 to 53, the majority Ought Not to Pass Motion carries 3) LD 1339, An Act to Strengthen the Consent Laws for Abortions Performed on Minors and Incapacitated Persons Final Vote: 81 to 61, the majority Ought Not to Pass Motion carries

I'm sitting in the gallery of the Maine House right now - it's almost 5:00 and I plan to be here for several more hours.  I think about the choices I've made in the last several weeks as I've testified before the Judiciary Committee, helped prepare others to testify, spoken with members of the media and members of our legislature.  And I think about a choices I hope to make in the future - the choice to carry a child in order to start a family with my partner. When that time comes, I hope we can go to our health care provider and have a thoughtful and private discussion about our options. I hope that throughout my pregnancy, I remain healthy. At the end, I hope I give birth to a healthy baby. In the event that something goes wrong, I hope we will have the choice to terminate the pregnancy in a safe way. My choices today and in the future are the result of the countless people who have come before me, people who have defended a woman's right to choose. I am thankful for their work. I am discouraged that we still must defend the right to choose, but I am proud to join forces with women and men I deeply respect to protect these rights. Tonight, the House will take up 3 anti-choice bills. And we'll be here to watch the debate and votes on all 3. It is a emotional debate, and hopefully a respectful one. We'll keep you posted.    

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!

A woman’s right to have an abortion is under assault.  Take Arkansas and North Dakota, which recently passed two of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.  Or Kansas, which is considering a similar law.  Or Texas and Alabama, which are pushing bills designed to force women's health centers to shut their doors.  The list goes on. Maine could very well be next if three anti-choice bills before the Maine legislature become law: LD 760 would force doctors to tell women unnecessary, coercive information before they could obtain an abortion. LD 1339 would repeal Maine’s successful adult involvement law and replace it with a law requiring physicians to obtain signed consent from a minor’s parent before she can obtain an abortion. LD 1193 seeks to convey legal status to a fetus, including granting the fetus legal rights to “heirs and an estate.” Today, a group of mothers and grandmothers from around the state were in Augusta to push back against this dangerous legislation. You can help as well.  Tell your legislators not to roll back abortion rights.  You can also call the Maine Senate at 1-800-423-6900 and the Maine House at 1-800-423-2900. If you aren't sure who your representatives are, click here to search. Remember, in the words of ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, "No fight for liberty ever stays won."

Today I testified against three bills that would severely, and unconstitutionally, restrict welfare benefits for some of Maine's most vulnerable families. Two of the bills seek to limit the number of people who can receive state aid by creating unconstitutional residency requirements and automatically terminating benefits for anyone convicted of a drug crime. The third bill would allow random, suspicionless drug testing of public benefit recipients in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Women balancing work and family know that gender discrimination is more subtle than it was just decades ago.  Women are unlikely to be told by a prospective employer "we don't hire women," like Sandra Day O'Connor was when more than forty law firms would not give her an interview following her 1950 graduation from Stanford Law School.  However, women who seek accommodations from an employer for pregnancy or breastfeeding are often denied or challenged on those requests.  Too often, the lack of legal protections under the law mean that women who are pregnant or returning to work after giving birth must make a difficult or impossible choice about continued employment or the health and well-being of themselves and their child. Two bills, LD 777 and LD 830, would make minor changes to Maine law that would have a major positive impact on the lives of working mothers and their families.  Yesterday, the ACLU of Maine testified in favor of these bills to protect the rights of pregnant workers and women who are breastfeeding.  In our testimony, I spoke about the lack of legal remedies in the law, the firsthand complaints we have heard from women, and the ACLU's advocacy across the country in court to defend the rights of mothers. The Judiciary Committee also heard testimony about a woman who was forced by her employer to use a Port-a-potty to express breast milk.  They heard testimony about another Maine woman who developed sciatica during her pregnancy, but her employer, a big-box retailer, refused to allow her a stool at work until she brought in a note from her doctor, which the employer required her to update every six weeks.  How would LD 777 and LD 830 fix these problems?  LD 777 updates Maine law to protect women who breastfeed under the Maine Human Rights Act.  The bill language proposes the following:  "It is unlawful employment discrimination in violation of this Act, except where based on a bona fide occupational qualification, for an employer to fail to provide to an employee with a nursing child the accommodations required under Title 26, section 604." LD 830 is also very simple.  It would require employers to make a "reasonable accommodation" for pregnant women during her pregnancy in the same way that they would do for any other worker with a disability. Unfortunately, opposition to these bills from the Maine Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Restaurant Association, and UNUM was fierce.  The three men who testified against the bills called them "unnecessary."  This was not entirely surprising.  The United States Chamber of Commerce opposed amending the Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination against pregnant women back in 1977.  But it's 2013.  It's time to get with the times.  A majority of Maine women and women across the country are working and *gasp* having families too.  The law should protect all women and all women's choices. The ACLU of Maine is working with our partners at the Coalition for Maine Women and Maine Women's Lobby to advocate for passage of these bills.  We were joined at yesterday's hearing by groups like Maine Right to Life and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine.  We could use your help too! Do you have a personal experience or story of discrimination while pregnant or breastfeeding?  State legislators on the Judiciary Committee need to hear from you!  You can send an email to the entire Judiciary Committee by contacting the committee clerk, Susan Pinette, at [email protected].  Note that all communications with the state legislature are public documents, so you should only include details of your story that you feel comfortable being shared with the public.  Even if you don't have a personal experience of discrimination, you can express your support for an update to Maine's laws to protect pregnant workers and women who breastfeed by contacting your legislators.  Click here to find your legislator and reach out to them today!

It’s been 50 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. But according to census data, women still earn, on average, just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, and women of color take home even less. There are many causes for this unacceptable wage gap, but what makes it especially difficult to fix is that in many workplaces employees can be fired if they simply try to find out how their pay stacks up against coworkers. The ACLU has joined with more than 100 organizations in asking President Obama to issue an executive order that would help fix this problem by banning retaliation against the employees of federal contractors for disclosing or inquiring about their wages. It’s tough to fight for equal pay when you can’t even find out whether you’re being paid equally. There are 26 million Americans who work for federal contractors, so an executive order protecting them would have a significant impact. Tomorrow we’ll “celebrate” Equal Pay Day – the marker for how far into 2013 women have to work in order to earn what men were paid in 2012 alone. That’s a huge gap, and while no one action is going to close it entirely, there are real and concrete steps we can take to narrow it right away. An executive order is a simple and effective step that will ensure more equal pay, and President Obama should issue one immediately. You can read the full letter to President Obama here. If you’d like to learn more about the wage gap and what else the ACLU is doing to close it, check out these resources on ACLU.org.

It’s been 50 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. But according to census data, women still earn, on average, just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, and women of color take home even less. There are many causes for this unacceptable wage gap, but what makes it especially difficult to fix is that in many workplaces employees can be fired if they simply try to find out how their pay stacks up against coworkers.   The ACLU has joined with more than 100 organizations in asking President Obama to issue an executive order that would help fix this problem by banning retaliation against the employees of federal contractors for disclosing or inquiring about their wages. It’s tough to fight for equal pay when you can’t even find out whether you’re being paid equally. There are 26 million Americans who work for federal contractors, so an executive order protecting them would have a significant impact.   Tomorrow we’ll “celebrate” Equal Pay Day – the marker for how far into 2013 women have to work in order to earn what men were paid in 2012 alone. That’s a huge gap, and while no one action is going to close it entirely, there are real and concrete steps we can take to narrow it right away. An executive order is a simple and effective step that will ensure more equal pay, and President Obama should issue one immediately.   You can read the full letter to President Obama here. If you’d like to learn more about the wage gap and what else the ACLU is doing to close it, check out these resources on ACLU.org.