News & Commentary

Educating young people about their constitutional rights has been a key component of the ACLU of Maine’s mission for well over a decade. In that time our program has grown step by step, and this year we are proud to say we reached more students and schools than ever before.

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

Thursday, June 5 is a national day of action to take back our privacy. It’s easy to participate: go to www.resetthenet.org to take the pledge and get the tools to protect your privacy online.  

Last Sunday, May 31, marked the 5th anniversary of the brutal murder of Dr. George Tiller, a physician who provided abortion services at his women’s clinic in Wichita, Kansas.  Tiller was the medical director of Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, one of the very few clinics that performed late-term abortions. The morning of his murder, Dr. Tiller was serving as an usher at his church during the Sunday morning service. Tiller was shot in the head at point-blank range by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder as he was handing out literature to fellow churchgoers.

Last week, I watched a short film by The House I Live In director Eugene Jarecki titled Just Say No …to the War on Drugs. In the 2 minute and 30 second film, Jarecki lays out the failure of the War on Drugs, its enormous costs – both fiscal cost to taxpayers and human cost to our communities, and its ultimate failure to curb and deter drug abuse whatsoever.

Updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation:

At last year’s Pride Parade, the ACLU of Maine crew marched through the streets of Portland with bright blue signs declaring “I’m On Team Edie!” This was our show of support for Edie Windsor, the ACLU’s client in the groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), as well as all the loving couples who were being denied federal marriage benefits because of an unconstitutional law.

This month, the ACLU is working with Planned Parenthood in Alabama and Wisconsin to reverse restrictive Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws that were passed in the two states last year. Last month, I wrote about TRAP laws being used as a tool to prevent access to safe and legal abortions. TRAP laws are burdensome and unnecessary laws that impose regulations on doctors and practices that provide abortions. TRAP laws close clinics, restrict practices, and introduce roadblocks to accessing abortion services. The end result of these laws is the same: clinics close and women’s access to reproductive health care is limited. Proponents of TRAP laws often argue that these laws are concerned with women’s health and safety, but, as the ACLU’s deputy legal director Louise Melling states, these laws were “designed by politicians, not doctors, with the single-minded goal of shutting down women’s health care centers and ending access to safe, legal abortion.”

Our partner profiles highlight the broad range of individuals and organizations we work with to advance and protect the rights of all people in Maine.