I write today as a lifelong Mainer and a social worker in support of bill L.D. 820, An Act to Prevent Discrimination in Public and Private Insurance Coverage for Pregnant Women in Maine.

In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion across the country. However, in 1976 the Hyde Amendment was applied to block federal funding from being used for abortion services (with narrow exceptions). This meant that anyone with federal health insurance, most notably people living at or below the federal poverty line who qualify for Medicare/Medicaid, lost health insurance coverage for a safe and legal health care service.

The Hyde Amendment continues today to target people who cannot easily afford the cost of an abortion without the assistance of insurance, making abortion for many legal in theory but inaccessible in reality.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 1 in 5 people with the ability to get pregnant will have an abortion by the time they are 45. Although it is an extremely safe and common procedure, a person living in Maine who needs an abortion without coverage has to come up with at least $500 dollars on their own, an unexpected cost that many Mainers cannot afford. L.D. 820 would ensure that any insurance available to Mainers must cover abortion if it covers carrying a pregnancy to term.

L.D. 820 supports the principle that access to safe and legal health care services should not depend on how much money a person makes or what type of insurance they have. As a social worker committed to service, I support a person’s right to self-determination, and therefore I support L.D. 820.

Maine people have the right to be free from coercion and to raise the families they choose, which includes deciding when, if, and how to have children.

 

Emily Fortin

Wayne

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