An Act to Protect a Woman's Right to Withdraw Consent for an Abortion
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0771
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: BRAKEY, LIBBY, GUERIN, KEIM, JAVNER, PAUL, QUINT, RUDNICKI, SAMPSON, SMITH
Amends: 22 MRSA §1597-A, 22 MRSA §1598, 22 MRSA §1599-A

Legislative Document
No. 771
S.P. 330
In Senate, February 21, 2023
An Act to Protect a Woman's Right to Withdraw Consent for an 
Abortion
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Representative LIBBY of Auburn and
Senators: GUERIN of Penobscot, KEIM of Oxford, Representatives: JAVNER of Chester, 
PAUL of Winterport, QUINT of Hodgdon, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, SAMPSON of Alfred, 
SMITH of Palermo.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§4, ¶A, as amended by PL 2019, c. 262, §2, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
(2)  Explain that the minor may withdraw a decision to have an abortion at any 
time before the abortion is performed fetus has died 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;
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§8, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. K, §11 
and affected by Pt. X, §2, is amended to read:
A.  A person may not knowingly perform or aid in the performance of an abortion in 
violation of this section.  A Except as provided in paragraph C, a person who violates 
this paragraph commits a Class D crime.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §1597-A, sub-§8, ¶C is enacted to read:
C.  Unless the abortion is performed pursuant to a court order issued under subsection 
7, a person may not knowingly perform or aid in the performance of an abortion if the 
minor has withdrawn the minor's consent for the abortion.  A person who violates this 
paragraph commits a Class C crime.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §1598, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5.  Abortion after consent withdrawn.  A person may not knowingly perform or aid 
in the performance of an abortion if the pregnant woman has withheld or withdrawn the 
woman's consent for the abortion.  A person who violates this paragraph commits a Class 
C crime.
Sec. 5.  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 pregnant woman, in a 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 woman is 
pregnant;
B.  The number of weeks elapsed from the probable time of the conception;
C.  The particular risks associated with her the woman's own pregnancy and the 
abortion technique to be performed; and
D.  At the woman's request, alternatives to abortion such as childbirth and adoption and 
information concerning public and private agencies that will provide the woman with 
economic and other assistance to carry the fetus to term, including, if the woman so 
requests, a list of these agencies and the services available from each.; and
E.  The woman's right to withdraw her consent for the abortion at any time before the 
fetus has died.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a pregnant woman's and a pregnant minor's right to withdraw the 
woman's or the minor's consent to an abortion at any time before the death of the fetus.  
The bill makes performing or aiding in the performance of an abortion after the pregnant 
woman or the pregnant minor has withdrawn consent a Class C crime.