The Maine Attorney General’s Office is joining a multistate lawsuit that attempts to reverse the Trump administration’s new budget law that defunds abortion providers.
While federal funds do not pay for abortions, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Maine Family Planning receive federal money for reproductive health and primary care services, about $5 million in total for the nonprofits’ Maine services. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England also operates in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The bill, passed by Congress this month, targets Planned Parenthood and similar health care providers, including Maine Family Planning, by forbidding the nonprofits from participating in the Medicaid program. The agencies provide reproductive health care and primary care, including cancer screenings, birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections and treatment.
Separately, Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning have filed lawsuits against the defunding, arguing that the bill illegally targets their groups.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The lawsuit against the Trump administration is making similar arguments as lawsuits filed by the abortion providers, saying that the law illegally targets the nonprofits.
“With rural hospitals under constant threat, there are many rural and low-income Mainers without access to health care providers,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement. “Without Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning, these patients in Maine will simply have nowhere to turn for routine healthcare.”
States joining the lawsuit include Maine, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Nicole Clegg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, said in a statement that the “provision ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood is dangerous and puts the health care of thousands of Mainers at risk.”
In the Planned Parenthood lawsuit, a federal judge this week blocked the law from going into effect.
