Reproductive health leaders urged support for a bill Wednesday that would use $5 million in state dollars to address rising costs and federal funding cuts they say threaten access to family planning services in Maine.

The bill, LD 335, sponsored by Rep. Amy Kuhn, D-Falmouth, would fill funding holes and safeguard against future cuts to federal programs, including Medicaid and Title X, by reimbursing providers with state funds for any lost money.

The $5 million, focused on providing ongoing support, would be distributed in fiscal year 2027-28 and then appropriated annually.

In July 2025, a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill restricted Medicaid reimbursements for reproductive health care that offer abortion services, including Maine Family Planning, a statewide health provider, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which offers services in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Federal pressure on health care providers that offer abortions has increased since a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision stripped away abortion rights on a national level. Since then, 13 states have passed total abortion bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights group.

Maine has expanded abortion rights.

Last year, the Trump administration also temporarily froze Maine’s Title X funding, which flows through Maine Family Planning to support non-abortion services at more than 60 health centers across the state.

Kuhn said that money could still be at risk.

“If we lose this network, we lose preventative care that keeps Mainers healthy, like cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, contraceptive care, wellness exams, immunizations and so much more,” Kuhn said. “If reproductive health care centers close, many of our most valued, vulnerable constituents will have nowhere else to go.”

Half of Maine Family Planning’s patients rely on Medicaid. Despite its inability to bill for services, the organization has continued to offer free and discounted care at 19 health centers across the state, primarily in rural areas, said George Hill, the group’s president and CEO.

However, he said, Maine Family Planning was forced to end primary care services at its clinics in Houlton, Presque Isle and Fort Kent late last year, impacting 1,000 patients, all of whom live in federally designated medically underserved areas.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England has four health centers in Maine, where they see almost 10,000 patients and “provide millions in free and discounted care,” said Lisa Margulies, vice president of public affairs.

She said the organization is often the only health care provider a patient sees in a year.

Meredith Ruxton McIntosh of Hallowell was 16 on her first visit to Planned Parenthood. She said she didn’t have anyone at home who would answer questions about the way her body worked.

Since then, she said at the hearing, the provider has “saved my life several times through compassion, basic medical care, reproductive health and recognizing the signs of domestic abuse.”

She urged lawmakers to vote to fund family planning services.

The Maine Legislature approved $6 million in one-time funding for reproductive health care services last year, which Margulies said has been essential in alleviating the financial burden of providing free and discounted care. In January, Gov. Janet Mills asked the Legislature to set aside $2.25 million to cover the lost federal Medicaid dollars since July 1.

Margulies said her organization has lost $1 million in reimbursements for non-abortion services, while Maine Family Planning has lost $650,000.

She said the ongoing funding in LD 335 would protect against future political threats and account for rising costs to provide care.

Family planning services save more money than they cost, Dr. Lani Graham, a physician from Freeport, said at the hearing. For every public dollar invested in family planning, she said, about $7 is saved in pregnancy delivery and infant care costs.

Others testifying in support of the bill shared experiences regarding unexpected pregnancies, abortions and managing menopause symptoms. Amy Partridge-Barber of Carrabassett Valley said her mother’s unplanned pregnancies — the result of an IUD that failed — caused her to grow up in a neglectful and abusive home.

“I am a living, breathing example of what a world without access to Planned Parenthood looks like,” Partidge-Barber said.

Several residents testified in opposition to the bill, underscoring the value of human life from the point of conception. Ruth Rogers of Bangor said state funding should instead go toward “life-giving” services like maternity wards and birthing centers.

“If federal dollars stop flowing to Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning because of their abortion practices,” she said, “Maine taxpayers should not be forced to bail them out.”

Margulies said abortion care makes up 16% of Planned Parenthood’s services in Maine. No federal money has been used to fund abortions in decades due to the Hyde Amendment, but Maine provides its own funding for abortion coverage for people enrolled in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program.

The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which has caused thousands of Mainers to drop insurance, could also increase demand on family planning providers, Kuhn said.

“The simple reality is that if Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning were to reduce health care center hours or close centers entirely,” Kuhn said, “there would be unquantifiable harm for birth outcomes and increased utilization of emergency rooms.”