An Act to Prohibit Deceptive Advertising in Limited Pregnancy Services Centers
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1137
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: GRAMLICH, BRENNER, KUHN, LOOKNER, MOONEN, MORIARTY, O'NEIL, RECKITT, SHEEHAN, CARNEY
Amends: 22 MRSA §1902, 22 MRSA §1912

Legislative Document
No. 1137
H.P. 723
House of Representatives, March 13, 2023
An Act to Prohibit Deceptive Advertising in Limited Pregnancy 
Services Centers
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative GRAMLICH of Old Orchard Beach.
Cosponsored by Senator BRENNER of Cumberland and
Representatives: KUHN of Falmouth, LOOKNER of Portland, MOONEN of Portland, 
MORIARTY of Cumberland, O'NEIL of Saco, RECKITT of South Portland, SHEEHAN of 
Biddeford, Senator: CARNEY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1902, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Emergency contraceptive supplies.  "Emergency contraceptive supplies" means 
any medically approved drug designed to prevent pregnancy when administered after 
sexual intercourse.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1902, sub-§5-B is enacted to read:
5-B.  Limited pregnancy services center.  "Limited pregnancy services center" means 
a pregnancy services center that does not directly provide, or provide referrals for, abortions 
or emergency contraceptive supplies.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §1902, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Pregnancy services center.  "Pregnancy services center" means a facility that:
A.  Provides medical or health counseling services related to pregnancy or pregnancy 
prevention; or
B.  Appears to provide medical or health counseling services related to pregnancy or 
pregnancy prevention and has at least 2 of the following:
(1)  Staff or volunteers who wear medical attire or uniforms;
(2)  One or more examination tables;
(3)  A private or semiprivate area where medical supplies or medical instruments 
are located;
(4)  Staff or volunteers who collect health information from persons seeking 
medical or health counseling services; or
(5)  A location connected to, or sharing a space with, a licensed health care facility 
or health care provider.
Services related to pregnancy or pregnancy prevention include, but are not limited to, 
contraceptive procedures, emergency contraceptive supplies, contraceptive supplies, 
contraceptive counseling, abortion, pregnancy testing, pregnancy diagnosis, pregnancy 
options counseling, obstetric ultrasound, obstetric sonogram and prenatal care.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §1912 is enacted to read:
§1912.  Deceptive advertising; limited pregnancy services centers
1.  Dissemination prohibited.  A limited pregnancy services center may not, in 
connection with providing a medical or health counseling service related to pregnancy or 
pregnancy prevention, provide, disseminate or cause the dissemination of information, or 
provide only partial information, about pregnancy, pregnancy prevention or abortion that 
it knows or reasonably should know is deceptive or misleading. The prohibition in this 
subsection includes, but is not limited to, verbal statements and written statements in a 
newspaper, journal, pamphlet, publication or other written, recorded or electronic medium.
2.  Notice.  If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a limited pregnancy 
services center has violated subsection 1, the Attorney General shall provide written notice 
of the violation to the limited pregnancy services center.
3.  Enforcement.  If a limited pregnancy services center that received written notice 
under subsection 2 fails to respond to the notice or comply with the requirements under 
subsection 1 within 10 days of receiving the written notice, the Attorney General may bring 
an action in the name of the State against the limited pregnancy services center to compel 
compliance with the requirements of subsection 1 by temporary or permanent injunction. 
In any action pursuant to which a temporary or permanent injunction is issued under this 
section, the court may, in addition to any other remedy within its authority, order the 
defendant to complete any combination of the following requirements:
A.  Disseminate, or pay for the dissemination of, information that corrects the 
information identified to be deceptive or misleading;
B.  Post, in locations determined by the court, a remedial notice that corrects the effects 
of the information identified to be deceptive or misleading; or
C.  Take any other action the court determines necessary to remedy adverse effects that 
the information identified to be deceptive or misleading had on a person who was 
seeking medical or health counseling services related to pregnancy or pregnancy 
prevention from the limited pregnancy services center.
Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit the State or a political subdivision of 
the State from pursuing other administrative or legal action authorized by law including, 
but not limited to, any action that may be available under Title 5, chapter 10.
4.  Penalties.  In any action pursuant to which a temporary or permanent injunction is 
issued under this section, the court shall issue a civil penalty of not less than $50 and not 
more than $500 for each violation identified in the action. If the Attorney General prevails 
in an action under this section, the Attorney General is entitled to recover the reasonable 
costs and reasonable attorney's fees of pursuing that action.
5. Rulemaking. The Attorney General shall adopt rules necessary to implement this 
section. Rules adopted by the Attorney General must include, but are not limited to, the 
following:
A. The process through which a person can notify the Attorney General of a facility 
that the person believes has engaged in the dissemination of deceptive or misleading 
information prohibited under subsection 1;
B. The process and timeline that the Attorney General will follow in responding to a 
person who submitted notification under paragraph A; and
C. Examples of the dissemination of deceptive or misleading information provided by 
limited pregnancy services centers prohibited under subsection 1.
The processes required under paragraphs A and B, and the examples required under 
paragraph C, must be available to access on the Attorney General’s publicly accessible 
website.
SUMMARY
This bill defines the terms "pregnancy services center," "limited pregnancy services 
center" and "emergency contraceptive supplies," prohibits a limited pregnancy services 
center from disseminating information about pregnancy, pregnancy prevention or abortion 
that is deceptive or misleading and establishes a process for notice and enforcement of that 
prohibition.