An Act To License Outpatient Surgical Abortion Facilities
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1312
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: SANDERSON, BRAKEY, NADEAU, SHORT, STANLEY, VACHON, HAMPER
Amends: 22 MRSA §1812-L

Legislative Document 
No. 1312 
H.P. 890 
House of Representatives, April 9, 2015 
An Act To License Outpatient Surgical Abortion Facilities 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative SANDERSON of Chelsea. 
Cosponsored by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin and 
Representatives: NADEAU of Winslow, SHORT of Pittsfield, STANLEY of Medway, 
VACHON of Scarborough, Senator: HAMPER of Oxford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1812-L is enacted to read: 
§1812-L.  Surgical abortion facilities 
1.  Purpose.  In the interest of the protection of the lives, health and welfare of 
citizens of this State and the safe and successful operation of public health facilities, this 
section expands the licensing authority of the department's division of licensing and 
regulatory services to regulate and license surgical abortion facilities. 
2.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A.  "Abortion" means the intentional interruption of a pregnancy by the application of 
external agents, whether chemical or physical, or the ingestion of chemical agents 
with an intention other than to produce a live birth or remove a dead fetus, regardless 
of the length of gestation. 
B.  "Division" means the department's division of licensing and regulatory services. 
C.  "Person" means an individual person, partnership, association or corporation, 
including state, county or local governmental units. 
D.  "Physician" means a person licensed under Title 32, chapter 36 or 48 to practice 
medicine in this State as an osteopathic or allopathic physician. 
E.  "Regular service" means a procedure that is performed on site on a routine basis. 
F.  "Surgical abortion facility" means an outpatient facility that is not otherwise 
licensed by the division that provides surgical termination of pregnancy as a regular 
service or that uses physical external agents to terminate pregnancies in accordance 
with chapter 263-B.  Premises operated primarily as a physician practice are not 
surgical abortion facilities. 
3.  License required.  The following provisions govern the licensing of surgical 
abortion facilities. 
A.  A person may not establish or operate a surgical abortion facility without 
obtaining a license issued by the division. 
B.  A license issued under this section is valid for 24 months from the date of issue, 
unless suspended or revoked or otherwise conditioned pursuant to section 1817. 
C.  A license issued under this section is not assignable or transferable. 
D.  A person seeking a license to operate a surgical abortion facility shall file an 
application and pay initial licensing and renewal fees in accordance with rules 
adopted pursuant to this subsection. 
E.  The department shall adopt rules, which are major substantive rules as described 
in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, identifying the conditions under which a 
surgical abortion facility license may be granted, conditioned or denied.  These rules 
must include licensing fees. 
4.  Surgical abortion facility operations.  A person who operates a surgical abortion 
facility shall comply with all applicable federal and state laws, regulations and rules.  The 
department may adopt major substantive rules, as described in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A, establishing reasonable operational and safety standards for a surgical 
abortion facility. 
A.  The division shall conduct inspections of surgical abortion facilities in order to 
verify compliance with this section and applicable federal and state laws, regulations 
and rules. 
B.  The division shall investigate complaints concerning patient care and safety at 
surgical abortion facilities and suspected noncompliance with applicable federal or 
state laws, regulations and rules by surgical abortion facilities. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires outpatient surgical abortion facilities to be licensed by the 
Department of Health and Human Services.  The department must adopt rules governing 
licensing of these facilities and may adopt rules establishing reasonable operational and 
safety standards for these facilities.