BIDDEFORD — Gov. Janet Mills said Monday that a federal investigation into the state’s requirement that health insurance cover abortion procedures is politically motivated.
“It’s purely political,” she said. “They are doing this to 13 states total, basically Democratic states. I’ve said pretty clearly that I will stand for the right to abortion care, reproductive health care.”
Last week, the Trump administration announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights is “initiating a compliance review” of the requirement in Maine that health insurance plans cover abortions.
In particular, the federal government says it wants to find out if Maine “is unlawfully coercing entities covered by Federal health care conscience protection laws to provide, pay for, or provide coverage of abortion.”
According to the Associated Press, the states with the coverage requirements are California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. All except Vermont have Democratic governors.
Mills, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, has expanded access to reproductive health care during her eight years as governor. Most notably, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion in 2022, Maine expanded the period in which a woman can get an abortion with a doctor’s approval.
In addition, Mills has supported bills to allow physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to perform abortions, require private and public insurance providers to cover abortion care and expanded access to emergency contraception, according to her office.
In comments to reporters following a bill signing in Biddeford on Monday, Mills noted that since the repeal of Roe v. Wade, one-third of American women do not have access to reproductive health care.
“There are women who are literally dying on the doorsteps of emergency rooms across this country because they can’t get lifesaving care after a miscarriage,” she said. “What kind of humanity are we? What kind of nation are we if we let that happen?”
Mills faces two opponents in the June Democratic primary for the right to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November. Sullivan oyster farmer and combat veteran Graham Platner and former government staffer David Costello will be on the primary ballot alongside Mills.
When asked whether the federal investigation could impact abortion care in Maine, Mills said she’s confident the state has the laws in place to protect access.
“It’s another form of political harassment on the part of this administration and we’ll stand up to them every day,” she said.