An Act to Prevent Coerced Abortion
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1197
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: ARATA, KEIM, BRADSTREET, DANA
Amends: 5 MRSA §4566, 22 MRSA §1597-A, 22 MRSA §1599-A

Legislative Document
No. 1197
H.P. 757
House of Representatives, March 14, 2023
An Act to Prevent Coerced Abortion
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ARATA of New Gloucester.
Cosponsored by Senator KEIM of Oxford and
Representatives: BRADSTREET of Vassalboro, DANA of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §4566, as amended by PL 2019, c. 465, §§1 to 5, is further amended 
by enacting after the first paragraph a new paragraph to read:
The commission also has the duty to prepare educational materials informing pregnant 
minors and pregnant women of the Act's protections against discrimination on the basis of 
pregnancy and familial status in employment, education and housing and to make these 
materials available to health care professionals as defined in Title 22, section 1596, 
subsection 1, paragraph C.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2019, c. 262, §2, is further 
amended to read:
3.  Informed consent; disallowance of recovery; refund if consent withdrawn.  A 
health care professional, as defined in section 1596, subsection 1, paragraph C, may not 
perform an abortion upon a minor unless, prior to performing the abortion, that health care 
professional has received the informed written consent of the minor and may not continue 
to perform an abortion if the minor has withdrawn consent for the abortion prior to the 
abortion being performed.
A.  To ensure that the consent for an abortion is informed consent, the health care 
professional who will perform the abortion shall:
(1)  Inform the minor orally and in writing in a language and manner that, in the 
health care professional's professional judgment, is not misleading and that will be 
understood by the patient, of at least the following:
(a)  According to the health care professional's best judgment the minor is 
pregnant;
(b)  The number of weeks of duration of the pregnancy; and
(c)  The particular risks associated with the minor's pregnancy, the abortion 
technique that may be performed and the risks involved for both;
(2)  Provide the information and counseling described in subsection 4 or refer the 
minor to a counselor who will provide the information and counseling described 
in subsection 4; and
(3)  Determines whether the minor is, under all the surrounding circumstances, 
mentally and physically competent to give consent.
B.  Recovery is not allowed against any health care professional upon the grounds that 
the abortion was rendered without the informed consent of the minor when:
(1)  The health care professional, in obtaining the minor's consent, acted in 
accordance with the standards of practice among members of the same health care 
profession with similar training and experience situated in the same or similar 
communities; or
(2)  The health care professional has received and acted in good faith on the 
informed written consent to the abortion given by the minor to a counselor.
C.  A health care professional shall refund any payments received for the performance 
of the abortion if the minor withdraws consent to the abortion at any time prior to the 
abortion being performed.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§4, ¶A, as amended by PL 2019, c. 262, §2, is 
further amended to read:
A.  Any health care professional or counselor providing pregnancy information and 
counseling under this subsection shall, orally and in writing in a language and manner 
that will be understood by the minor:
(1)  Explain that the information being given to the minor is being given objectively 
and is not intended to coerce, persuade or induce the minor to choose either to have 
an abortion or to carry the pregnancy to term;
(2)  Explain that the minor may withhold or withdraw a decision to have an 
abortion at any time before the abortion is performed and receive a refund of any 
payments made for the abortion or may reconsider a decision not to have an 
abortion at any time within the time period during which an abortion may legally 
be performed and that, pursuant to section 1907, the minor's decision not to have 
an abortion will not affect the minor's right to receive public assistance or public 
health services or access to any other public benefit;
(3)  Clearly and fully explore with the minor the alternative choices available for 
managing the pregnancy, including:
(a)  Carrying the pregnancy to term and keeping the child;
(b)  Carrying the pregnancy to term and placing the child with a relative or 
with another family through foster care or adoption;
(c)  The elements of prenatal and postnatal care; and
(d)  Having an abortion;
(4)  Explain that public and private agencies are available to provide birth control 
information and that a list of these agencies and the services available from each 
will be provided if the minor requests;
(4-A)  Explain that Title 17-A, section 209 prohibits criminal threatening of any 
person, including a person who refuses to have an abortion; provide contact 
information for providers of resources for victims of domestic violence, including 
the telephone number of at least one domestic violence hotline and one sexual 
assault hotline; offer to provide referrals to law enforcement agencies and domestic 
violence and sexual assault support organizations; and offer to call a law 
enforcement agency if the minor feels that the minor will be unsafe if the minor 
refuses to have an abortion;
(4-B)  Explain that the Maine Human Rights Act protects the minor from 
discrimination on the basis of the minor's pregnancy or familial status in 
employment, education and housing, and, upon request, provide educational 
materials prepared by the Maine Human Rights Commission regarding these 
protections to the minor;
(5)  Discuss the possibility of involving the minor's parents, guardian or other adult 
family members in the minor's decision making concerning the pregnancy and 
explore whether the minor believes that involvement would be in the minor's best 
interests; and
(6)  Provide adequate opportunity for the minor to ask any questions concerning 
the pregnancy, abortion, child care and adoption, and provide the information the 
minor seeks or, if the person cannot provide the information, indicate where the 
minor can receive the information.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §1599-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 262, §6, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Informed consent.  To ensure that the consent for an abortion is truly informed 
consent, the health care professional, as defined in section 1596, subsection 1, paragraph 
C, shall inform the woman pregnant patient orally and in writing, in a language and manner 
that in the health care professional's professional judgment is not misleading and that will 
be understood by the patient, of at least the following:
A.  According to the health care professional's best judgment she, the patient is 
pregnant;
B.  The number of weeks elapsed from the probable time of the conception;
C.  The particular risks associated with her the patient's own pregnancy and the abortion 
technique to be performed; and
D.  At the woman's patient's request, alternatives to abortion such as childbirth and 
adoption and information concerning public and private agencies that will provide the 
woman patient with economic and other assistance to carry the fetus to term, including, 
if the woman patient so requests, a list of these agencies and the services available from 
each.;
E.  The patient's right to withhold or withdraw the patient's consent for the abortion at 
any time before the abortion is performed and receive a refund of any payments made 
for the abortion and that, pursuant to section 1907, the patient's decision not to have an 
abortion will not affect the patient's right to receive public assistance or public health 
services or access to any other public benefit;
F.  That Title 17-A, section 209 prohibits criminal threatening of any person, including 
a person who refuses to have an abortion.  The health care professional shall also 
provide contact information for providers of resources for victims of domestic 
violence, including the telephone number of at least one domestic violence hotline and 
one sexual assault hotline; offer to provide referrals to law enforcement agencies and 
domestic violence and sexual assault support organizations; and offer to call a law 
enforcement agency if the patient feels that the patient will be unsafe if the patient 
refuses to have an abortion;
G.  The protections under the Maine Human Rights Act against discrimination on the 
basis of pregnancy or familial status in employment, education and housing.  Upon 
request, the health care professional shall provide educational materials prepared by 
the Maine Human Rights Commission regarding these protections to the patient.
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §1599-A, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3.  Refund if consent withdrawn.  A health care professional shall refund any 
payments received for the performance of an abortion if the pregnant patient withdraws 
consent to the abortion at any time prior to the performance of the abortion.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing informed consent to abortion by requiring a health 
care professional, prior to performing an abortion, to provide to a pregnant minor or 
pregnant patient orally and in writing, in a language and manner that will be understood by 
the patient:
1.  Notice that the minor or patient has the right to withdraw consent for an abortion at 
any time before the performance of the abortion and, if so, to receive a refund of any 
payments made to the health care professional for the performance of the abortion;
2.  Notice that the law prohibits criminal threatening of any person, including a person 
who refuses to have an abortion;
3.  Contact information for providers of resources for victims of domestic violence, 
including the telephone number of at least one domestic violence hotline and one sexual 
assault hotline; an offer to make referrals to law enforcement agencies and domestic 
violence and sexual assault support organizations; and an offer to call a law enforcement 
agency if the patient or minor feels that the patient or the minor will be unsafe if the patient 
or the minor refuses to have an abortion; and
4.  Information regarding the Maine Human Rights Act's protections against 
discrimination in employment, education and housing on the basis of pregnancy or familial 
status and, upon request, provide educational materials prepared by the Maine Human 
Rights Commission regarding these protections.