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  1. Important Update about Clinical Services

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    As a health center, we are committed to keeping our staff and patients safe during this COVID-19 outbreak so we can continue to provide essential and urgent services.

    Effective March 16, 2020

    We are currently open and will stay open to continue to serve clients’ needs including abortion care and prenatal care. If you have any of the following symptoms, please DO NOT come here and instead contact us to reschedule:

    • fever >100.0
    • cough
    • shortness of breath
    • sore throat
    • muscle aches
    • unusual fatigue
    • nausea
    • diarrhea

    We are screening EVERYONE at the door. If you have any of these symptoms you will not be allowed in and will be asked to reschedule.

    All previously scheduled non-urgent, wellness appointments including annual exams will be postponed until further notice. However, we will continue to schedule visits for ongoing birth control needs such as IUD and Nexplanon insertions or removals and routine Depo injections in addition to meeting with new HRT clients. We will handle inquiries about birth control and HRT refills or changes by phone. We will also continue to see clients in person with immediate concerns such as pain, unusual discharge, STI symptoms, and other concerns. Client advocate appointments will continue to occur via phone/email. Mental health counseling clients will access care via telehealth. We are also exploring telehealth for other types of visits. All decisions about in-person visits and client access may vary and ultimately be subject to clinical discretion.

    How to reach us:

    Please call 947-5337. Or, if possible, please contact us via email info@mabelwadsworth.org or through the Athena patient portal for scheduling questions, prescription refills, etc. as phone lines are currently busy.                            

    No support people will be allowed into the building with clients-please ask your support people to wait in the car or arrange to come back after your appointment.

    We appreciate your understanding and patience. We are frequently re-evaluating our plans as circumstances change and are relying on guidance of the Center for Disease Control and the State of Maine. We will communicate any updates on our website or via social media.

    Thank you!

     

     

  2. #MyRightMyDecision

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    Next week, the Supreme Court will hear the Center for Reproductive Rights’case, June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo (formerly June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee), challenging a law that would close two out of three abortion clinics in Louisiana making abortion nearly impossible to access for thousands of individuals.

    The disputed law is identical to the law struck down by the court in 2016 in its 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health vs Hellerstedt. The Louisiana law requires doctors who provide abortion care to have admitting privileges within 30 miles of the clinic. The only change is the composition of the Supreme Court, now stacked with anti-abortion justices. The outcome poses a dire threat to abortion rights; while the court could uphold its own precedent and reaffirm the constitutional right, it is far more likely to let the law go into effect – gutting Roe and opening the doors for other states to pass similar legislation.

    The court will also consider whether abortion providers have legal standing to argue cases on behalf of our patients. Without standing for clinics to challenge hostile laws with groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU, we would lose one of our most effective tools in protecting abortion access. In 2015, for example, Mabel Wadsworth Center teamed up with other providers and the ACLU to sue the state of Maine on behalf of our patients to restore MaineCare coverage of abortion. Our case relied heavily on expertise of clinic staff who explained the numerous barriers faced by our patients and why coverage was necessary to ensure meaningful abortion access to all Mainers. While we ultimately ended the MaineCare coverage ban through legislation in 2019, being able to bring litigation to represent our patients when needed is equally important, especially in states like Louisiana led by anti-abortion politicians.

    Understanding the significance of this case, our executive director, Andrea Irwin, and our board member, Aislinn Canarr, have shared their stories with the Supreme Court in two different amicus briefs. Andrea joined over 350 lawyers and legal professionals who have had abortions and would not have been able to realize their personal and/or professional goals were it not for their ability to control their reproductive lives. Aislinn’s story is one of eleven stories that represent a wide range of experiences held by people who have had abortions.

     “Aislinn was not ashamed to get an abortion. She told her family she was pregnant as soon as she found out. Although her family supported her decision, she would not have had the resources to sue the State had that been required to obtain an abortion.”

    Additionally, our director of community engagement, Abbie Strout-Bentes, will be heading to DC next week to participate in the #MyRightMyDecision rally at the Supreme Court. You can vote for her rally sign here.

    At this point, you are probably wondering “what can I do?”

    Help get the word out. 

    Here is everything you need to spread the word about the #MyRightMyDecision campaign. Share the graphics and use the hashtag #MyRightMyDecision to demand that abortion is treated as what it is: a normal and common part of reproductive healthcare and a constitutional right guaranteed to all, regardless of what state you live in.

  3. Support Family Planning Funding

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    Aislinn Canarr, board member and advocacy committee chair, testified in support of LD 1613 a bill that will replace the “gagged” Title X funding with state funding and preserve Maine’s family planning network. While Mabel Wadsworth Center does not seek nor accept state or federal funding we stand with Maine Family Planning and the 23,000 Mainers who seek care within the family planning network. Here is the testimony provided by Aislinn:

    Good afternoon. My name is Aislinn Canarr and I live in Winterport Maine.  I’m here today in support of LD 1613 to ensure funding for continued family planning services in the State of Maine.

    In my life, I have been a beneficiary of Maine Family Planning’s health care services.  For a period in college and my early 20s, they were the only provider I saw. In addition to gynecological care, my provider gave me a basic check-up.  Their sliding scale for services and prescriptions allowed me to access care and get birth control when I was uninsured. I remember sitting with someone from the office after my appointment to fill out the financial paperwork.  I can still feel the vivid relief when I was told I qualified for the sliding scale program and my birth control prescription was going to be $11/month instead of $35.  That $20 may not sound like a lot, but it was huge as a college student.  It is huge for those who struggle to make ends meet.  It was the difference between being able to consistently fill my prescription and letting it lapse.  I am so grateful that they were able to provide me health care and I got the services I needed.  I continued to see my provider at Maine Family Planning when I had health insurance because of the great care they provide.  I only stopped being a patient after I became pregnant and needed to find prenatal care.  My provider there confirmed my pregnancy, and I was saddened I would have to find care elsewhere.

    I know that I was able to get the healthcare I needed when I was uninsured because of the outside funding they receive.  I applauded their decision to refuse Title X money when restrictions were placed on the funding.  When I go to the doctor, I don’t want them censored from providing me with options that may be in my best care.  I also understood that it would be a hardship in continuing to provide care to some of our state’s most rural and vulnerable populations.  I appreciate our State’s initiative to replace the funding that the federal government is keeping from qualified and legitimate health centers.  The state funding will benefit so many in our state the same way I was benefited.  I fully support LD 1613 and providing healthcare to Maine residents.  I hope you all in the committee will support that as well.

     

    Thank you.

    Aislinn Canarr

     

  4. 47 Years of Roe!

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    Today marks the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade which has kept abortion legal in the US for almost five decades. While we take a moment to recognize the importance of this landmark Supreme Court decision, we must also acknowledge that Roe has never ensured meaningful access to abortion care for all of us. It hasn’t kept politicians from pushing abortion out of reach for people struggling to make ends meet—especially women of color, young folks, LGBTQ individuals and immigrant communities. As Amanda Reyes, a leader from the Yellowhammer fund explains:

     

    “Rather than a day of “victory,” January 22 should be a dayof reflection for our movement, in which we remember how narrow our political victories are when we do not position the right to a legal abortion as a human right, regardless of a person’s income, zip code, age, race, or immigration status.”

     

    We made huge strides last year in the state of Maine with the passage of LD 820 requiring MaineCare and private insurances to cover abortion and LD 1261 which allows trained and qualified advanced care providers like Nurse Practitioners to provide abortion care. These laws have significantly increased access to care for low-income Mainers and people living in our most rural communities. We are proud of Maine’s progress and envision a future where we all have the ability to decide when and whether to parent.

    The fact remains that the right to abortion is at risk. In 2019, we experienced an unprecedented number of abortion bans passed in states across the country and the Trump Administration continues to stack the federal courts with judges with extreme ideologies in opposition to reproductive freedom. And while abortion remains legal and available in all 50 states, in this upcoming year, we will continue to face the real threat of abortion care being further dismantled, further restricted or pushed out of reach entirely. However, we are part of a resilient, creative, and determined movement and we’re not backing down!

    Join us this Friday, January 24th for our annual Roe v. Wade Anniversary event. We are building community and strengthening the movement through story sharing. We will be gathering from 6 – 8 PM at Tea and Tarts in Downtown Bangor for a public abortion sharing event. Everyone is welcome, whether you have a story that you to share or want to listen as people in our community share how the right to abortion has impacted their lives – please join us. Prior to the event, we are holding a story-crafting workshop from 3:30 – 5:30 PM at the Health Equity Alliance for anyone who has had an abortion. There is still space in the workshop and you can sign up here!

     

     

  5. CARE, NOT CRIMINALIZATION: OPEN LETTER OPPOSING LD 871

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    We the undersigned represent organizations with memberships and constituents in all corners of the state that strongly oppose LD 871:  An Act To Establish the Crime of Endangering the Welfare of a Child by Transferring Illegal Drugs through Breast Milk. At a time when no Maine community is untouched by tragic losses stemming from chaotic substance use, we recognize the overdue and urgent need to treat our current epidemic as a public health crisis, not a criminal justice problem.

    After decades of punitive drug policies that have devastated primarily Black, Brown and poor communities, many Americans are belatedly coming to the realization that incarceration does not solve addiction. Chaotic substance use is an illness, and punitive measures are ineffective for addressing the significant harm that such a disease can cause. Illness requires treatment and community supports, and that is precisely what we recommend legislators seek to build and implement.

    LD 871 targets some of the most vulnerable parents in our communities with felony-level criminal charges for exposing an infant to breast milk containing traces of a scheduled drug. This bill would mean more kids placed in our state’s already over-loaded child welfare system, more Mainers in prison cells, and higher rates of adverse childhood experiences for impacted families. While the intent of bill sponsors may be to ensure the well-being of infants and children, this measure moves us in the opposite direction. It is not based in medical evidence or practicality, and instead perpetuates dangerous stereotypes and misconceptions that were popularized during the crack cocaine crisis of the 1980s and 90s.

    When parents receive the support and resources they need, children thrive. This is particularly important for mothers, who are often primary or sole caregivers, and disproportionately living in poverty. We must reckon with the ways compounded stigma for pregnant and nursing people who use substances creates barriers to accessing critical perinatal care and community resources. If we want healthier futures for Maine’s children, we must look to evidence-based interventions that work, not shaming rhetoric and ideas of the past.

    We oppose in the strongest terms any bills that criminalize rather than offer pathways to treatment and recovery, which are currently too few and far between in our largely rural and working class state. We reject the sexist notion that pregnant people and those nursing should be held to harsher standards of judgment because of their reproductive capacities. We embrace the dignity of those who struggle with substance use while also striving to be the best possible parents for their children.

    Therefore, we the undersigned call on members of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to vote Ought Not To Pass on LD 871, and join us in working toward comprehensive health care access, including to mental health and substance use treatment services, for all Mainers.

    Signed,

    Maine Family Planning

    Mabel Wadsworth Center

    Consumers for Affordable Health Center

    Maine State Breastfeeding Coalition

    Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence

    Survivor Speak USA

    Planned Parenthood of Northen New England

    Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights

    Maine People’s Alliance

    Maine Women’s Lobby

    Bangor Racial and Economic Justice Coalition

    Health Equity Alliance

    Portland Overdose Prevention Site

    ACLU of Maine

    Maine Access Points

    Maine Equal Justice

    Maine Coalition for Sensible Drug Policy