Sen. Brenner earns perfect score for voting record on reproductive rights
AUGUSTA – Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, earned a perfect score from Planned Parenthood Maine for votes to protect reproductive rights and improve access to health care. Sen. Brenner is one of 21 senators to earn a perfect score for their 2021-2022 voting record.
“I’m proud to join 20 of my colleagues in the Senate this year in receiving a 100 percent score from Planned Parenthood Maine,” said Sen. Brenner. “As the right to reproductive health care comes under unprecedented attack, it will be left up to state legislators to protect this freedom. My colleagues and I in Augusta are fully committed to doing so, no matter what happens at the federal level.”
Planned Parenthood scored Maine legislators on their votes on nine bills, including six anti-abortion bills. This year, the Legislature passed a new law that requires state-regulated health insurance plans to cover contraceptives that best meet a patient’s health needs as determined by the patient and their trusted health care professional. Lawmakers also took action to better protect patients’ safety when accessing care.
Sen. Brenner is a certified nurse-midwife, and in the 1990s she worked in a health clinic that provided abortion care services. Now in the Legislature, she serves on the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee, where she works to ensure all people have equitable access to the care that they need.
In recent months, there have been an unprecedented number of attacks on abortion access around the country, including several states that have enacted near-total bans on abortion without exception for rape or incest. With the Supreme Court expected to repeal Roe v. Wade, as indicated in the leaked draft opinion last month, the responsibility to protect abortion access will fall to state legislatures. In Maine, Democratic lawmakers have blocked the passage of extreme anti-abortion laws, similar to laws that have already been adopted in other states. Every Democrat in the Maine Senate received a 100 percent score from Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood provides reproductive and other health care services, including abortion care, immunizations and cancer screenings.
The complete Maine Senate legislative scorecard can be found here.
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