As politicians on the national level — and even some on the state level — seek to gut access to basic health care to fund tax cuts for the wealthy and restrict fundamental rights, leaders here in Maine are taking a stand to protect our people.

The people of Maine deserve access to essential health care services. That’s why I’ve introduced L.D. 143, “An Act to Improve Women’s Health and Economic Security by Funding Family Planning Services,” co-sponsored by all Democratic legislative leadership. This bill would provide $6.18 million in funding to our state’s family planning network — a web of over 60 health care sites that serves tens of thousands of Mainers all across the state annually, regardless of any patient’s ability to pay, and often in our most rural and underserved areas.

The state’s family planning network does more than what you might think of as “family planning.” L.D. 143 would fund a spectrum of services that providers offer to keep Mainers healthy from birth control, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to basic primary care including wellness visits, vaccinations, and even behavioral health services. These providers also serve as access points to connect patients with essential social services and agencies that cover other basic needs like food and housing.

This network is a safety net for our state’s most vulnerable, and it is in jeopardy. Family planning care providers are facing the challenges that many health care providers nationwide are facing, including increased costs of delivering care, the effects of inflation and insufficient reimbursement rates. Unfortunately, this network is also under constant political attack for the care it provides. Moreover, today’s chaotic national political landscape threatens to destabilize our state’s family planning infrastructure, especially by jeopardizing federal funding to Maine providers.

Making sure that Mainers can access family planning care is not only the right and necessary thing to do, but also a smart investment in our state’s future and a cost-saver for Maine people. Each dollar invested in family planning saves $4.83 by preventing unintended pregnancies, reproductive cancers and sexually transmitted infections.

I am committed to ensuring Mainers continue to have access to this essential — and often life-saving — care. I am grateful that this network of care providers is here for the people of Maine. More than 80,000 Mainers are uninsured. Others are “underinsured,” or have health insurance, but the out-of-pocket costs are prohibitively high. Maine’s family planning care providers offer care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay, and they are often the only provider some patients see in a given year.

Everyone from York to Aroostook counties and everywhere in between deserves access to basic, essential health care, regardless of their income or ZIP code. Continued access to this care does indeed lead to cost savings for our public health care infrastructure and a stronger economy. But more importantly, access to care means healthier Mainers who have more agency over their own lives, bodies and futures without interference from politicians.