An Act To Require a 24-hour Waiting Period prior to an Abortion
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0116
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CLARK, MASON, AYOTTE, BURNS, CRAFTS, NASS, TIMBERLAKE, WILLETTE
Amends: 22 MRSA §1597-A, 22 MRSA §1598, 22 MRSA §1599-A

Legislative Document 
No. 116 
H.P. 98 
House of Representatives, January 20, 2011 
An Act To Require a 24-hour Waiting Period prior to an Abortion 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CLARK of Easton. 
Cosponsored by Senator MASON of Androscoggin and 
Representatives: AYOTTE of Caswell, BURNS of Whiting, CRAFTS of Lisbon, NASS of 
Acton, TIMBERLAKE of Turner, WILLETTE of Mapleton. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 573, §2, is 
amended to read: 
2.  Prohibitions; exceptions.  Except as otherwise provided by law, no person may 
knowingly perform an abortion upon a pregnant minor unless: 
A.  The attending physician has received and will make part of the medical record the 
informed written consent of the minor and one parent, guardian or adult family 
member; 
B.  The attending physician has secured the informed written consent of the minor as 
prescribed in subsection 3 and the minor, under all the surrounding circumstances, is 
mentally and physically competent to give consent; 
C.  The minor has received the information and counseling required under subsection 
4, has secured written verification of receiving the information and counseling and 
the attending physician has received and will make part of the medical record the 
informed written consent of the minor and the written verification of receiving 
information and counseling required under subsection 4; or 
D.  The Probate Court or District Court issues an order under subsection 6 on petition 
of the minor or the next friend of the minor for purposes of filing a petition for the 
minor, granting: 
(1)  To the minor majority rights for the sole purpose of consenting to the 
abortion and the attending physician has received the informed written consent of 
the minor; or 
(2)  To the minor consent to the abortion, when the court has given its informed 
written consent and the minor is having the abortion willingly, in compliance 
with subsection 7. 
The attending physician may not perform an abortion upon a pregnant minor before 24 
hours have passed since the physician has secured the informed written consent of the 
minor, unless there is a medical emergency. 
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1598, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 405, §2, is amended 
to read: 
2.  Definitions.  As used in this section and in sections 1597-A and 1599-A, unless 
the context otherwise indicates, the following terms shall have the following meanings.  
A.    "Abortion" means the intentional interruption of a pregnancy by the application 
of external agents, whether chemical or physical or by the ingestion of chemical 
agents with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus. 
A-1.  "Medical emergency" means a condition that, on the basis of the physician's 
good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant 
woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death 
or to avoid a delay that would create serious risk of substantial and irreversible 
impairment of a major bodily function. 
B.  "Viability" means the state of fetal development when the life of the fetus may be 
continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life-supportive 
systems. 
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §1599-A, sub-§1-A is enacted to read: 
1-A.  Twenty-four-hour period.  Except in the case of a medical emergency, a 
physician may not perform an abortion until 24 hours have passed after the woman gives 
her informed written consent under subsection 1. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires a 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion except in the case of a 
medical emergency.