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Category Archive: News

  1. We Act! For Women

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    By: Aislinn Canarr, Board Member, and Advocacy Committee Chair 

    Earlier this month, I joined Andrea Irwin, the Center’s Executive Director, to travel to Washington, DC to take part in a national day of advocacy – Act! For Women, in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).  There we joined forces with a contingent from Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR!) to lobby our representatives and make sure they know access to abortion is important to Mainers.  All told we joined a group of 104 people from 23 states and the District of Columbia to inspire and be inspired and to take to the Hill to make our voices heard.

    Mabel Wadsworth Center is actively involved with two national campaigns:  All* Above All, to lift bans that deny abortion coverage & WHPA. A key goal of All* Above All is to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion care.  Hyde prevents anyone with federal insurance such as military families from having abortion covered and prohibits federal dollars being used for abortion coverage in state programs.  WHPA is federal legislation that protects abortion access and nullifies oppressive state restrictions such as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) laws, forced ultrasounds, forced delays, and procedure bans.  WHPA expressly prohibits any restriction that is not based on science or good medical practice.  Even though Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, a precedent further strengthened by Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, our rights are under threat across the country and harming women. With a Supreme Court that could be in flux as early as this summer, we must have federal legislation that protects our constitutional rights, no matter where we live.

    Since 2011, states have proposed over 400 anti-abortion restrictions that chip away at Roe v. Wade.  What the country has now is a patchwork of restrictions with no rhyme or reason, except that in conservative, red states women face more barriers than in others.  The restrictions have no medical basis and no consideration based on the health of the pregnant person.  Instead they are based on mostly religious ideology, which should not be forced upon the rest of the population.  Not all of these bills have been enacted, but each unconstitutional advance forces a judicial fight that takes away scarce resources.  Organizations must use their resources to fight for the right to provide care instead of focusing on the care itself.  This is unacceptable.  The passage of WHPA would prevent states from enacting spurious laws that only seek to shame and control women.  And if these laws are enacted, WHPA will streamline any defense necessary to make sure there are minimal barriers to abortion care.

    Our contingent from Maine met with staffers from all four of our Congressional delegation – Representatives Pingree & Poliquin and Senators King & Collins.  While some may think lobbying is only for corporations with deep pockets, taking our concerns to our elected officials is one of our greatest responsibilities and privileges as citizens. We brought our own stories and experiences around abortion care to highlight the need for WHPA.  Having members of GRR there who have experienced life before Roe v. Wade brought home the seriousness that abortions will not stop, only safe abortions will end as barriers increase.  There was visible impact as the stories were shared.

    I was able to share my abortion story as a resident of Maine having an abortion out of state while I was in college in Massachusetts.  When I found myself pregnant, my first thought was that I can come home to Mabel’s for care.  I knew care was accessible in Maine, but did not know the laws and restrictions in neighboring Massachusetts.  I come from a place of privilege, in which I could travel home to Maine.  Many others are not so fortunate to be able to travel for care.  They are forced through draconian measures to receive care, or are unable to obtain an abortion at all.  It should not matter what state a person is in, what zip code they are in, they should be able to access healthcare.

    Andrea was able to speak from the provider’s perspective.  Mabel Wadsworth Center helps so many people as they seek to terminate a pregnancy.  There are as many different reasons people seek abortion care as there are people.  As a Center we are fortunate that we can provide the necessary care without unnecessary and unwarranted restrictions.  As Andrea noted, she speaks with clinic directors all over the country that do not have this freedom and are burdened by the barriers they face in caring for their clients.

    We had successful meetings with all the staffers.  Rep. Pingree and Sen. King are currently co-sponsors of this important legislation.  Our meetings there were to thank them for their support of abortion access and to ask them to speak out to others on the importance of abortion care and personal autonomy. Rep. Poliquin and Sen. Collins, however, are not co-sponsors.  With Sen. Collins’ office, we were able to educate and advocate.  We dispelled some myths on the safety of abortion and how restrictions are not based in health but in control.  While we knew going in that Rep. Poliquin opposes a woman’s right to have an abortion, we were able to make our views known that for us, pro-life means women’s lives have importance that outweighs the potential life of a fetus.  It is the life of the woman and their ability to make the best choices for themselves free of government interference that is essential to our ability to participate equally in society. In all cases, we were able to let our representatives know that abortion access is important for the people of Maine.  That while we as a state are free from many legal barriers, any unconstitutional threat to reproductive care anywhere in the country is a threat to our own autonomy.

     

  2. Transgender Day of Visibility

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    At Mabel Wadsworth Center, our interns are responsible for updating the bulletin board in our waiting room once a month. Past topics have included healthy relationships, safer sex, abortion stories and more. In case you haven’t had the chance to visit us recently, you can read about our bulletin board here.  This post is by our social work intern, Olivia Watson, a student at the University of Maine.

    Transgender Day of Visibility aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of transgender people around the globe. Every year on March 31, events are held around the world for a day of empowerment and recognition. With this day nearing, it is important to remember that with more visibility comes more understanding. The number of troubling statistics about the trans community shed light on the reason why trans people need more visibility.  Here are just a few of those statistics:

    • 1 in 5 transgender people have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and 1 in 8 have been evicted due to being transgender.
    • 80% of trans students feel unsafe at school because of their gender expression
    • Trans people of color are 6x more likely to experience physical violence when interacting with the police than white cisgender people.

    In order to reduce the number of statistics like these, it is important to support the transgender community. There are many things you can do to be a part of Transgender Day of Visibility. Below is a list of five ideas:

    • Support trans-led organizations! Less than 10% of grants supporting LGBTQ organizations go to organizations led by transgender people. Trans Justice Funding Project, Sylvia Rivera Law Project and MaineTransNet are all examples of trans-led organizations.
    • Recognize the intersections of transness and other identities. Use the hashtag #BlackTransLivesMatter.
    • Make women’s spaces welcoming of trans women.
    • Educate yourself on terminology about gender identity an expression.
    • Speak up when someone says something transphobic or cissexist.

    Another way to show your support for Transgender Day of Visibility is to attend local events on March 31st. This year, our local event is being hosted by MaineTransNet in West Market Square in downtown Bangor from 10AM-Noon. Their mission is to support and empower transgender people to create a world where they can thrive. We will be joining them to support our transgender clients and friends. We welcome you and your family to join us and show your support. Signs are welcome.

  3. Maine Community Leaders Urge Senators Collins and King to Oppose Kyle Duncan’s Nomination

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    February 15, 2018

    Remarks by Andrea Irwin, Executive Director

    Mabel Wadsworth Center is an independent abortion provider located in Bangor, and we see clients from as far north as Canada and across Maine. Nearly half of our clients rely on MaineCare (Medicaid) for their health coverage and many others are uninsured and low income. Some of our clients from more rural communities must travel hundreds of miles, often having to manage missing work or school, arranging childcare, and finding gas money, to get here for needed abortion care. We see clients every day whose lives would be harmed if Kyle Duncan is confirmed, and we strongly oppose his nomination.

    Kyle Duncan has actively opposed basic reproductive rights; he supported Texas laws that shut down nearly half the state’s abortion clinics. In 2016, in Whole Woman’s Health, the most important case since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court found that these laws were clearly unconstitutional. They were not medically necessary and in fact decreased patient safety – by increasing the number of unsafe, self-administered abortions.

    The anti-abortion movement has been laser-focused on closing clinics. The Texas laws and many others, known as TRAP laws, or “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers” are clinic shutdown laws pushed by politicians, not doctors, under the guise of “patient safety.” Politically motivated legislators in Maine failed to pass a TRAP law in 2015, a law that would have had a detrimental impact on our clinic and our ability to serve our community.

    Kyle Duncan even co-authored an amicus brief in Whole Woman’s Health, relying on junk science to argue that prescribed hallway widths and full operating suites were needed to ensure “patient safety”.  I, too, played a role in that case and signed on to an amicus brief supporting abortion access  – as one of 113 lawyers who had abortions and were able to achieve educational and professional advancement as a result. The 2016 Supreme Court rightly put a stop to the growing tide of these politically-motivated sham laws that undermine the rule of law and distort the reasonable standards established by the Court to protect every woman’s constitutional rights.

    If, however, the Supreme Court had relied on Kyle Duncan’s arguments, women’s health would be gravely threatened. For example, a woman in El Paso would have to drive more than 500 miles—or 7.5 hours— roundtrip to San Antonio to get abortion care in her home state.

    The clinic closures also caused women in Dallas, the state’s third largest city, to face delays as long as 20 days for their initial consultation for an abortion—up from an average of five days in 2013. This forced more women to delay their care into the second trimester – making it both less safe and more expensive.

    These laws create higher costs, longer delays, and extra steps for women seeking abortion care, and in the process punish women for their decision to exercise their constitutional right to end a pregnancy. The only people who should be making decisions that impact women’s health and lives are women themselves and their healthcare providers— not politicians or judges. Regardless of how we feel about abortion, none of us, including Kyle Duncan, can stand in another person’s shoes and understand the circumstances and realities of their lives.

    Duncan also has a problematic record with respect to putting the rights of private corporations and pharmacists over patients who need birth control.

    • Duncan served as lead counsel in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, where he argued that for-profit corporations should be able to deny birth control coverage to their employees on religious grounds. In the case, he criticized the idea that birth control is “necessary for ‘the good life,’ health and economic success of society, particularly women.” Because of the Court’s ruling in the case, countless women do not have access to basic healthcare.
    • Duncan fought a Washington state law that required pharmacists to stock the drugs needed “to meet the pharmaceutical needs of its patients,” including birth control. The Ninth Circuit upheld the law, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. If Duncan had been successful, women’s access to birth control could have been restricted if they lived in an area where pharmacies refused to stock such products.

    We ask Senators Collins and King to oppose his confirmation and commit to holding all judicial nominees to a standard of following precedent and protecting our constitutional rights.

    Listen to the full press conference with remarks from Quinn Gormley, Executive Director of MaineTransNet, Laverne Thompson, and Eliza Townsend, Executive Director of the Maine Women’s Lobby.

     

  4. Letter to Our Senators: Please Oppose S. 2311

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    January 23, 2018

    Dear Senator:

    I strongly urge you to oppose S. 2311, the so-called “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.” As Maine’s first public abortion provider, Mabel Wadsworth Center has helped women across Maine access important reproductive health services, including abortion, since 1994. We know firsthand how important abortion care is to our region and the impact access to safe and legal abortion has on our clients.

    Located in Bangor, we are the only facility to provide the procedure north of Augusta, meaning that many Women from our state’s most rural Counties, including Aroostook and Washington, come to our clinic for services. As you know, these areas are extremely rural and travel, especially during harsh Maine winters, can be difficult. We currently provide abortion up to 14 weeks and therefore must refer women who may need abortion later in pregnancy to other clinics in Maine and New England.

    I firmly believe that S. 2311 would restrict access to abortion care for the women who need it most. In my experience, women who need abortion after the first trimester are more likely to be young, poor and managing challenging circumstances such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, drug dependence, among others. If a woman is involved with an abusive partner, for example, she could be subjected to reproductive coercion, the practice of controlling and the term used to describe behaviors that are used by an abuser to control a woman’s reproductive health and options. These behaviors vary but could include sabotaging her birth control method; forcing someone to continue an unwanted pregnancy; or prevent you from choosing whether or not to continue a pregnancy. Rather than protecting women’s health, this bill would punish women who are already vulnerable.

    Just recently, I counseled a young woman who was unexpectedly pregnant and seeking an abortion at our clinic. Her long-acting birth control method failed but she didn’t exhibit any typical pregnancy symptoms. As a result, she didn’t realize she was pregnant until she was 23 weeks. This 19-year old worked at a minimum wage job and was hoping to save money in the future to go to college. For many reasons, she did not feel ready to parent, so we helped her find a way to get an abortion at another facility out of state. She couldn’t tell any of her family members and doesn’t even have a driver’s license. This facility was more than five hours drive from her home and would cost more than three times the amount it does at our clinic. Despite these barriers, she was determined not to continue this pregnancy and found a way to get to the other clinic. She was very clear about wanting a future that included completing her education and finding a good job before becoming a parent.

    There are many reasons a woman may need abortion care after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Politicians shouldn’t be making these decisions; they should be decided between a woman and her medical provider. Most women who decide to have an abortion are incredibly clear about their decision; the last thing they need is the government attempting to tell them what’s best.

    Unfortunately, cuts in healthcare and other safety net programs make accessing family planning services more difficult than ever. Restricting a woman’s ability to terminate an unwanted pregnancy further punishes poor women who are already facing significant barriers.

    I urge you to oppose this bill. It would have major consequences for Maine women and their ability to make the decisions that are best for themselves and their families.

    Sincerely,

    Executive Director, Mabel Wadsworth Center

  5. Almost half a century after Roe v. Wade, abortion rights still under attack

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    By Aislinn Canarr and Andrea Irwin, Special to the Bangor Daily News • 

    Monday marks the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the U.S., a historic moment for women’s advancement. Despite nearly a half century of legal precedent protecting and even expanding a woman’s right to abortion, President Donald Trump is on a tear to nominate federal judges who will do whatever possible to dismantle this right.

    This time last year, Trump nominated anti-abortion judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, kicking off a flurry of similar, appointments to the judiciary, all poised to impact the constitutional landscape for decades to come.

    The Trump slate is characterized by substantial evidence of opposition toward a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion, and in some cases, even birth control.

    For example, Kyle Duncan has actively opposed basic reproductive rights; he supported Texas’ restrictions on abortion in Whole Woman’s Health, the most important case since Roe, restrictions that the Supreme Court found burdened women and increased the number of unsafe, self-administered abortions.

    Matthew Kacsmaryk’s record is extremely hostile to women’s health, including opposition to Roe as precedent and laws to protect birth control access.

    Perhaps most troubling is Mark Norris, who has vigorously fought to harm women, even going as far as supporting a law to criminalize and impose felony charges on physicians who perform abortions.

    Efforts to strip health coverage from millions of Americans, give personhood to fetuses, and other atrocities have kept public attention elsewhere, but we must remain vigilant about judges. When we emerge from the rubble of the Trump presidency, laws can be overturned but judges with lifetime appointments will make decisions that impact our children and grandchildren.

    Trump, however, is not solely responsible. The Senate’s — including Sen. Susan Collins — rubber stamping of the president’s nominees is unacceptable and dangerous.

    We were both born post-Roe and grew up with the privilege and security that entails. Brave and willing abortion providers treated us with respect and trusted us to know what was best for our own lives. We each had abortions, and today are stronger, healthier and happier than had we been forced to parent against our will. For one of us, and many of our peers, this includes being a happier parent now.

    Our mothers’ generation was forced into back alleys or flying out of the country, if they could afford it. Others lost their lives because of illegal, unsafe abortions. Those are dire stakes indeed.

    Hundreds of women just like us come through the doors of Mabel Wadsworth Center each year to seek abortion care. Many are already parents and want to parent the children they already have. Others are in school or struggling to make ends meet and want to pursue education and career goals. Some are escaping abusive relationships or battling addiction.

    The reasons don’t matter, however, because women in 2018 deserve to have the right to decide when and whether to parent.

    The decision to have an abortion is one of the most intimate, personal decisions a person can make. The only people who should be making decisions that impact our health and lives are our medical providers and us — not politicians nor judges.

    Abortion is safe, legal and necessary. The judicially protected right to abortion and birth control has been essential to our generation’s social and personal advancement. We will not go back.

    We ask Collins and Sen. Angus King to commit to holding all judicial nominees to a standard of following precedent and protecting our constitutional rights. Any judicial nominee must be independent and able to separate personal beliefs from the rule of law as it applies to protecting women, people of color, LGBTQ people and others from discrimination and violence.

    Trump’s efforts to stack the judiciary with ideologically driven nominees must be stopped.

     

    Aislinn Canarr is a board member and serves on the advocacy committee of Mabel Wadsworth Center in Bangor. Andrea Irwin is executive director of the Center.