Sen. Pierce introduces bill to provide increased funding to Maine Family Planning
AUGUSTA – On Wednesday, Sen. Teresa S. Pierce, D-Falmouth, introduced a bill to provide continuing, increased funding for Maine Family Planning and their services. LD 1478, “An Act to Improve Women’s Health and Economic Security by Funding Family Planning Services,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
“Maine Family Planning has helped countless Mainers over the last half-century get access to health care. This organization provides care far beyond what is traditionally considered to be part of ‘family planning’ services, including life-saving cancer screenings,” said Sen. Pierce. “The funds needed to continue these important services are at risk. Uncertainty at the federal level due to a number of court decisions in just the past year threaten the resources available. If we are to ensure that these services and access to healthcare are available to all across the state we as a State must step up and fund these important services at the state level.”
LD 1478 would provide ongoing funding of $3,390,000 in each year of the next two fiscal years to be distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services to Maine Family Planning — which is a statewide, not-for-profit organization — to provide management and oversight of the delivery of family planning services. Maine Family Planning was founded more than 50 years ago to assure access to the full range of family health services for Maine people, regardless of their ability to pay.
In 2022, 35,849 people were served by Maine’s Family Planning Network, which comprises 61 care sites. Services funded by the State of Maine and the federal government include: contraceptive care; screening, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections; screening, treatment or referral for cervical cancer; breast cancer screening; pregnancy testing; intrauterine insemination; vasectomy; behavioral health; and primary care.
“Access to family planning services is crucial to economic self-determination and an ability to fully participate in a democratic society for those who might become pregnant. Yet Maine has seen funding for family planning services stagnant for the past decade,” said Meagan Sway, Policy Director at the ACLU of Maine, in testimony supporting the bill. “With inflation and rising costs, this means that access to reproductive health care is less available, with some clinics only able to open one day a week. This committee has the opportunity to rectify this by passing increased funding for reproductive health care services in our state.”
The bill faces further action in committee.