On June 22, 2017, we hosted a Bangor Pride Week event which included lunch, networking, and the opportunity to learn more about the services Mabel Wadsworth Center offers for the LGBTQ+ community. We were thrilled to open our doors during Pride to give our community the chance to see our center and to meet our healthcare providers and staff. We offered an “LGBTQ Health Questions and Answers” program and recorded it for Reproductive Left.
LD 327 “An Act To Allow a Wrongful Death Cause of Action for the Death of a Viable Fetus” – Ought Not to Pass
Statement of Andrea Irwin, JD, Executive Director at the Judiciary Committee
Senator Keim, Representative Moonen, and other members of the Judiciary Committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Andrea Irwin and I am the executive director of Mabel Wadsworth Center in Bangor. We are the only independent, not-for-profit feminist health center in Maine. We provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare, including prenatal care, abortion care, birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and other wellness care. I am here today representing our organization in opposition to this bill which we believe would restrict abortion access and negatively impact providers serving prenatal patients in Maine.
Since 1997 we have provided prenatal care to our community and we offer full-service pregnancy care. When women come to our health center, they can access all their pregnancy options under one roof, including abortion and continuing and deciding to parent.
This bill would make providing prenatal care much more difficult for providers and potentially harm the women we care for. First and foremost, the bill would expose us to additional liability without clear evidence that it would further the safety and quality of care. This bill would also interfere in the provider-patient relationship and place an additional and unnecessary burden on providers. This bill would require that they prove that they legally obtained consent, had no knowledge or reason to have knowledge of the pregnancy, and otherwise acted within the applicable standard of care.
This bill would also harm the women we serve as an abortion provider. (And to be clear, these are often the same women who come to us seeking abortion and prenatal care or in reverse order over the course of their lifetime.) No matter how proponents seek to label this bill, or how they describe the intent behind it, this is a fetal personhood bill, plain and simple.
As others here have testified, current Maine law already has protections in place for families and loved ones who experience such tragedies. We, too, care deeply for the health and well-being of pregnant women and want to ensure that people who harm pregnant women, especially violent and abusive partners, are held accountable. We know all too well that the rate of abuse in intimate partner relationships increases during pregnancy and pregnant women are at increased risk of homicide. Unfortunately, this is not just a sobering statistic we’ve read about but a practice we see play out in women’s lives. However, this bill will neither prevent nor reduce such violent acts and instead is a clear attempt to undermine legal abortion in Maine.
As an abortion provider, we are already held to a different standard than other providers. As a facility that serves more rural and geographically isolated parts of the state, we already struggle to recruit and retain providers. In addition to the typical concerns about high malpractice rates of insurance faced by all OBGYNs, abortion providers face harassment and concerns for their own safety. While there is an exemption to allowing a cause of action against an abortion provider, there is no actual prohibition on lawsuits against us. Again, as written, the burden is on the provider to legally defend their actions that may otherwise be in line with good medical care and practice.
Women need access to pregnancy care, both abortion care and prenatal care, and if enacted, this bill would impact our ability to provide safe, quality healthcare in our community as we have more than 20 years. Now, more than ever, with cuts to the safety net and social services, the women of our community need to be able to get the healthcare they need without additional barriers.
Finally, I would ask that you consider the intent of this proposal. This proposal is clearly taken from anti-abortion advocates who seek to restrict women’s access to safe and legal abortion. The purpose of this bill is to grant new legal rights to a fetus and erode women’s access to safe and legal abortion. This bill further minimizes pregnant women’s role as autonomous beings with agency by attempting to provide legal equal standing to the fetus she is carrying. In addition to restricting abortion, this bill would pit a woman’s legal standing and rights against those of her fetus, further threatening the health and safety of women who become pregnant and creating an adversarial relationship between the two. Under this bill, a pregnant woman could be liable for any number of behaviors that could be deemed as harming her fetus.
Since Roe legalized abortion in the U.S. in 1973, Maine has largely opposed efforts to restrict access and supported women who seek abortion, understanding it to be an important part of personal decision making and autonomy, a tradition we should follow now. This bill is unnecessary, dangerous and would only create confusion in Maine law.
Mabel Wadsworth Center opposes any and all attempts at restricting reproductive freedom. We trust women to make the best decisions for themselves about their bodies and reproductive health. We know that a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about when and whether to become a parent has a lasting impact on her life, her education, and her financial security. Politicians should not be interfering with her ability to make such an important decision.
I strongly urge you to vote “ought not to pass”. Please contact me with any questions. Thank you.
Mabel Wadsworth Center’s former and current executive directors, Ruth L. Lockhart and Andrea Irwin, at the National Abortion Federation Awards Lunch.
Several clinical and administrative staff attended the recent annual meeting held by National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion providers, to network, learn, and celebrate.
The highlight of the conference was the membership luncheon where our co-founder and former executive director Ruth L. Lockhart received the C. Lalor Burdick Award, honoring “unsung heroes” whose dedication and contributions have, too often, gone unrecognized outside of their facilities and communities. Linda Griebsch, executive director of Joan G. Lovering Health Center, our sister feminist clinic in Portsmouth, NH, presented Ruth with the award.
In her remarks, Linda described Ruth’s collaborative spirit and strong mentoring of the next generation of feminist activists. She also spoke of Ruth’s commitment to advocating healthcare access for rural communities and women with low income, a tradition we are proud to continue today. Ruth previously served on NAF’s Board of Directors and was instrumental in helping to create Feminist Abortion Network (FAN), the network of independent, not-for-profit feminist abortion providers. Several of Ruth’s FAN colleagues were also there to celebrate with us, including leaders from Preterm in Ohio; Equality Health Center in NH; Feminist Women’s Health Center in GA: and South Wind Women’s Center in OK and KS. We are so proud of Ruth and the amazing work she has done over three decades to provide abortion care in our community and across Maine. Congratulations, Ruth!
Mabel Wadsworth Center’s co-founder and nurse practitioner, Terry Marley-DeRosier, with Dr. Willie Parker
We also had the pleasure of meeting and hearing remarks from Dr. Willie Parker, author of “Life’s Work, A Moral Argument for Choice” chronicling his own journey to provide abortion care because of, not in spite of, his Christian background and faith. Dr. Parker is one of the few providers in the South, focusing his practice exclusively on abortion care in rural communities of color in places that are hostile to reproductive rights.
Don’t miss it – a signed copy of Dr. Parker’s new book will be included in our upcoming silent auction!
We are proud to be members of NAF and salute their work to keep abortion providers safe from clinic violence; to promote safe, high-quality abortion care through training, education, and advocacy; and its financial support of women seeking abortion through its Hotline Fund. Thanks to the Hotline Fund, we are able to help eligible women seeking abortion care pay for their abortions instead of delaying or going without necessary care.
Every year we provide the opportunity for our interns to attend the Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) Conference titled “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice, Building a Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” Enjoy this post by our intern, Jessie Carignan, about her empowering experience at the conference this year. Jessie is a fourth-year student at the University of Maine studying Sociology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies. She is an active member of the Student Women’s Association and the Student Alliance for Sexual Health.
As part of my internship with Mabel Wadsworth Center, I traveled to Amherst, MA, to attend the annual Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) Conference, surrounded by powerful activists and professionals. CLPP is dedicated to inspiring, educating and mentoring new generations to be advocates for reproductive rights and health and social and economic justice, so naturally, I was in paradise.
As a student living in Orono, Maine, it can be hard to feel like I am doing my part in making a difference in this resistance when mobilizing is not as visible/accessible as it is in major cities. Surrounding myself with over 1,000 activists rekindled the fire in me, reminding me that this is not a small movement. The opportunity to connect with activists from across the nation to learn how to achieve social justice is one of the most empowering things that I have ever done.
The CLPP conference offers over 80 different workshops throughout the weekend covering topics from abortion, immigrant rights, racial justice, queering reproductive rights, criminalized communities and more. In addition to the workshops, the first night of the conference was dedicated to an abortion speak out, an experience so moving and powerful that it enlightened my understanding of the diversity of abortion experiences.
The abortion speak out began with a listing of community agreements in order to keep the space safe and respectful for all of those willing to share their stories with us. At the beginning of the speak out it took a long time for the first person to walk up to the stage to share their story. The following speakers expressed gratitude for the bravery of speakers before them, illuminating the power of storytelling. The stories ranged vastly in experience, including but not limited to, late term abortions, gender non-conforming abortion patients, young patients, old patients, patients who faced unjust state restrictions and LGBTQ+ patients. The speak out expanded my understanding that abortions are not a universal story, and the vitalness of keeping in mind that accessibility, experience, and dialogue surrounding abortion must be mindful and inclusive.
Over the course of the weekend, I attended four different workshops; Building Intergenerational/Intersectional Campaigns with Wendy Davis (pictured above), The War on Immigration: Immigration Justice in Dangerous Times, Reproductive Justice Beyond Bars and Appropriate Whiteness with Loretta Ross. Each workshop was extremely informative and motivating, and taught me about the political process for supporting/rejecting bills, how immigrant rights are being stripped by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and they negative effects of the “good immigrant, bad immigrant” dichotomy, the reproductive rights, or lack thereof, of people in prisons and how to be an effective ally to people of color.
The conference organizers created an effective learning space for new or experienced activists. More specifically, Loretta Ross spoke about social justice arenas as a mutual learning space for all involved. She explained that we all make mistakes, and it can be hard to keep up with the correct language, but it’s more important to use your voice and make a mistake, rather than pretending issues do not exist. Ross stressed the importance of not shaming others for being “woke” at different times, rather let’s celebrate the fact that they finally woke up. These were two of the most important lessons I learned at the conference.
As a young student activist with minimal advocacy experience, it is very easy for me to get intimidated by the brilliance and bravery of activists around me, ultimately making me question my place in the resistance. However, CLPP reassured my place in this movement and empowered me to persist relentlessly. The words of Loretta Ross and other panelists made me feel welcome and encouraged me to welcome others, an important takeaway for all of us.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On this episode, we speak with Arianna Sessoms, a graduate student who works at the Office of Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention at the University of Maine. We discuss the services they offer students at UMaine and the education programming.
Lindsey Piper, WHNP, joins us for the “Ask Mabel” segment where she answers questions about what sexual assault survivors can expect at an appointment at Mabel Wadsworth Center and tips to prepare for the exam.
