6 days ago
Maine will let abortion-pill prescribers keep their names off labels
Health-care providers in Maine who prescribe abortion pills will be able to remove their names from the medication's label under a new law — the latest example of a Democratic-led state moving to maintain abortion access by protecting doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol.
The statute allows providers to use their facility's name instead of their own when prescribing these drugs to end pregnancies. Medication is now used in nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States, supplanting surgical methods.
Maine already has a law shielding its abortion providers from punishment in states that ban the procedure. But the new law adds another layer of protection. State Rep. Sally Cluchey (D) sponsored the measure in response to health-care professionals telling lawmakers they feared for their safety.
Her bill saw opposition from legislators in both chambers — a clash representative of the nationwide debate over how and where abortion pills can be legally prescribed. Mifepristone itself is at the center of multiple court challenges over medication abortion. And leaders in two conservative states have sought to punish out-of-state doctors who mailed abortion pills into their states, challenging provider 'shield laws' like Maine's and raising concerns about a new frontier of legal consequences.
In Maine, abortion providers have faced stalkers, bomb threats and harassing online messages, Cluchey said ahead of the House's vote on the measure. She described the legislation as 'simple but essential' for providers to safely do their jobs.
The state allows abortion until viability, around 24 weeks, when the fetus can survive outside the womb.
'It is our responsibility as legislators to ensure that Mainers can engage in lawful work and activities without fear of being targeted, regardless of how we feel personally about those activities,' Cluchey said.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the number of women who used abortion pills to end their pregnancies rose significantly. In cases where the pills are obtained by mail, medication abortions bypass direct involvement of a health-care provider — even in states where the procedure is severely restricted. Access to the pills themselves is banned in 17 states, limited in 10 states and legal in D.C. and 23 states, according to The Washington Post's database.
The varied state laws on the pills further complicate the post-Roe landscape for abortion access, one that became more confusing for providers when a New York doctor was criminally indicted for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a girl in Louisiana.
The January indictment of physician Margaret Carpenter marked the first time an abortion provider had been prosecuted since Roe fell. Police in Louisiana learned of Carpenter from the medication's package label, which included her name.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the state would not comply with Louisiana's warrant to extradite Carpenter. In February, Hochul also signed a measure allowing New York abortion providers to ask pharmacies to list their practice's name on pill labels rather than their own. The Maine legislation, which Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law on Thursday, follows that example. Washington state enacted its own measure last year, and Vermont did so last month.
During debate in the Maine's Democratic-controlled legislature, some Republicans opposing the measure falsely claimed that mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs were unsafe. They urged that providers' names be required so patients could follow up should they need additional care after administering the pills.
'They should not be dispensed under a veil of secrecy,' said state Rep. Reagan Paul (R).
Abortion providers have pushed back against the notion that the new measure compromises patient safety.
Pharmacists will know the provider who prescribed the pills, and from them, patients can contact the facility where the provider works to ask questions about care if needed, said Evelyn Kieltyka, the senior vice president of Program Services at Maine Family Planning, which operates reproductive health care clinics. Drug labels in Maine are required to include the name, address and phone number of the pharmacy where the prescription was dispensed.
'There is absolutely no concern that a patient is not getting top notch care,' Kieltyka said.
At Maine Family Planning, clinicians prescribe abortion pills only to in-person patients or, in certain cases, via telehealth after confirming that the patient is physically in the state, Kieltyka said. The group's clinics have not received specific threats, but the new law helps comfort both patients and providers in the state, she added.
'It further reassures providers that Maine's got your back,' Kieltyka said.
