Attorneys general from 16 states have issued a warning Monday to Maine over its proposed bill, LD 227, Fox 26 reported.
The bill aims to protect healthcare providers who offer abortion and sex-change surgeries to minors from out-of-state legal consequences, according to Fox 26. Spearheaded by Republican attorneys general from Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and eleven others, the group has committed to employing every constitutional mechanism available to oppose the legislation put forward by Democratic Maine Rep. Anne Perry.
“In America, we have the right to disagree. Maine has every right to decide what Maine’s laws are and how those laws should be enforced. But that same right applies to every state. One state cannot control another,” the attorneys general wrote, Fox 26 reported. “The totalitarian impulse to stifle dissent and oppress dissenters has no place in our shared America.”
GOP AGs warn Maine to kill ‘totalitarian’ bill making sanctuary state for sex-change surgeries, or be sued https://t.co/5Av1GH9ARF
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) March 11, 2024
The proposed bill has ignited a debate over states’ rights and the extent of legal protections for healthcare providers and patients seeking specific medical procedures, Fox 26 stated. Under LD 227, medical records related to abortions performed in Maine would be shielded from law enforcement agencies of other states, and healthcare providers could opt into a confidentiality program to protect their personal information. (RELATED: ‘Unsafe and Illegal’: Republican AGs Warn CVS, Walgreens Against Selling Abortion Pills By Mail)
“From a practical perspective, LD 227’s ill-considered attempt to influence and intimidate officials in other states could also trigger a rapid tit-for-tat escalation that tears apart our republic,” the Attorneys General stated, Fox 26 reported. “State officials would be dragged into legal battles in far-flung jurisdictions, thwarting their ability to focus on protecting their own citizens consistent with their own duly-enacted laws.”
“We have Mainers and patients who come to Maine in need of reproductive healthcare or gender- affirming care, and as a legislature, we cannot ignore this,” Perry said in a statement defending the bill. “During a time when we are seeing an increase in restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care across the country, Maine needs to be a leader and defend our patients and providers.”
“Gender-affirming care” is a euphemism proponents use to describe use of irreversible hormone suppression and hormone treatments that can lead to chemical castration, as well as surgeries like mastectomy, phalloplasty and vaginoplasty.
Meanwhile, Republican Maine Sen. Lisa Keim argues that such laws could compromise parental rights and the protection of minors.
“We need to recognize, always, when we consider law, that there will be an abuse of the law. That we have to make sure we provide protection, and the best protection for a child is always their parent,” Keim said in a statement, according to Fox 26. “So we have to make sure that we have upheld parents’ rights and allow them to be the ones that will protect their children in any sort of medical procedures.”