Sen. Vitelli earns perfect score for voting record to protect reproductive rights

Posted: October 29, 2021 | Senator Vitelli

AUGUSTA – Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, earned a perfect score from Planned Parenthood Maine for protecting reproductive rights and access to health care for Mainers. Sen. Vitelli is one of 22 senators to earn a perfect score for their 2021 voting record from Planned Parenthood Maine.

“Abortion is health care; it is a human right, and legal abortions must remain available to people in all parts of the country,” said Sen. Vitelli. “Here in Maine, I’ll continue fighting to make sure that people have access to the information and resources they need to make well-informed decisions about their health and their bodies that are right for them.”

Planned Parenthood scored Maine legislators on their votes on six bills that sought to undermine access to abortion in the state. One of the proposals rejected by lawmakers advocated for a practice considered by health care professionals to be medically dangerous and, in some cases, life-threatening to the patient.

Sen. Vitelli had a career of nearly 40 years with New Ventures Maine, helping all Mainers – women in particular – build the knowledge and financial stability they need to live happy, healthy, independent lives. She was inducted into the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995. Earlier this month, Sen. Vitelli spoke alongside other local legislators and community leaders on the Brunswick Mall as part of the Rally for Reproductive Rights.

To help support working families and ensure that Mainers are able to take time away from work to tend to their health, this year Sen. Vitelli cosponsored a law to study the development of a paid family and medical leave policy for Maine.

Despite overwhelming public support for abortion access across the country, states enacted more than 100 abortion restrictions just this year, including the draconian Texas abortion ban. Although the Maine Legislature debated similar proposals, state lawmakers stood together to reject these attempts to limit Mainers’ access to legal abortion and reproductive health care.

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.