LD 143, which takes effect Sept. 24, combined with an appropriation from the state’s additional budget passed in June, LD 210, will provide $6 million in one-time funding to the state’s family planning care network
(Portland, MAINE) — Family planning care providers in Maine this week are celebrating state-level funding bills taking effect against a backdrop of the most extreme attacks targeting sexual and reproductive health care in modern history. This year alone, the Trump administration and a Republican-led congress have targeted virtually every program that supports access to basic care from Title X (federal family planning funding) to Medicaid (MaineCare) in Maine.
Passed by the state legislature last spring and signed into law by Governor Mills in July, LD 143, An Act to Improve Women’s Health and Economic Security by Funding Family Planning Services, was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Teresa Pierce and Rep. Kristen Cloutier and co-sponsored by Democratic leadership. Also passing in June was the state’s additional budget, LD 210, which included an appropriation for family planning funding. Together, they will provide $6 million in one-time funding to help alleviate the financial burden of the free and discounted care Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) and Maine Family Planning (MFP) provide.
These state funds will support services including for cancer screenings, birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and other family planning health care services, helping to ensure Mainers can access this essential care when they need it. PPNNE and MFP provide millions of dollars in free and discounted care each year.
While adequate state partnership in helping ensure every Mainer can access family planning care has been needed for years, the funding from LD 143 is even more critical as reproductive care providers continue to weather ongoing and sustained political attacks that put care for millions of Americans at risk.
Most recently, Congress passed President Trump’s federal reconciliation bill that includes a harmful provision “defunding” Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning by prohibiting the health care providers from receiving reimbursement payments for nonabortion services provided to patients insured by MaineCare (Medicaid).
The new law also blocks the use of Medicaid for basic health care services for patients at Maine Family Planning, which operates 19 health centers. If the courts don’t intervene, Maine Family Planning will lose nearly $2 million from Medicaid reimbursement. MFP will continue to see patients with sexual and reproductive health needs but will be forced to stop seeing primary care patients due to unsustainable reimbursement and funding instability.
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which operates four health centers in Maine, continues to welcome anyone who comes to them for care, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. This means PPNNE is bearing the cost of care provided to patients covered by Medicaid. This mission-driven decision was made with the understanding that without PPNNE, patients would otherwise forgo or be unable to access care.
Half of Maine Family Planning’s patients are on Medicaid. Due to the budget reconciliation bill, Mainers in rural areas are slated to lose access to primary care at MFP by Oct. 31, and thousands could lose access to sexual and reproductive health care if clinics are forced to close.
The people most affected are those who already face the steepest barriers: low-income Mainers, young people, and those relying on Medicaid. The cuts will have a larger impact on the entire health care ecosystem. If clinics are forced to close, patients will see longer wait times and more strain placed on Maine’s already struggling health care infrastructure. Maine cannot afford to lose another point of access.
Statement from Lisa Margulies, Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
“We are grateful to Governor Mills and the reproductive rights champions in the legislature for their commitment to protecting access to essential health care in Maine. Everyone deserves to access the care they need, when they need it, and the family planning funding approved this legislative session will help offset the cost providers have borne due to increased patient demand and need for free and discounted care.
Politicians in Washington aren’t stopping their attacks. They are singularly focused on shutting down any provider that legally offers abortion as a component of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Their actions have put access to care for everyone–especially our country’s most vulnerable–at risk.
In contrast, here in Maine, a majority of our elected leaders understand that access to birth control, cancer screenings, vaccinations and related care should not depend on your zip code or political whims.
We are proud of our state leaders, and we will continue to work with them as we maintain our commitment to our mission: providing care. No matter what.”
Statement from George Hill, President and CEO, Maine Family Planning
“Over the last half-century at Maine Family Planning, we’ve worked hard to ensure every Mainer has the human right to bodily autonomy –– and the resources and freedom to control their sexual and reproductive lives in safe and sustainable communities. The infusion of state funding into Maine’s family planning program will allow us to serve more patients and respond to our state’s current public health needs.
We are grateful to Senator Majority Leader Teresa Pierce and our state leaders who fought tirelessly to fully fund Maine’s sexual and reproductive health provider network. We also appreciate Governor Mills’ support for family planning funding, which will keep our health care infrastructure strong.
Everyone deserves the ability to maintain their health and access high-quality care. This includes controlling their reproductive future, getting their annual flu shot, getting their regular cancer screenings, and getting routine care from providers they know and trust. These state family planning funds will ensure every Mainer, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay, has access to basic sexual and reproductive health care for another year.”
Statement from Senate Majority Leader Teresa Pierce
“I introduced LD 143 because family planning providers across our state have always been a critical safety net for the most vulnerable Mainers, and these mostly rural providers are committed to serving them, regardless of ability to pay. Today, as basic health care access and reproductive care is under unrelenting assault at the national level, I am incredibly thankful that, during this legislative session, we were able to secure a crucial investment in the health of our people.”
Background
LD 143 and state budget
- The funds approved will provide critical resources to help cover the costs borne by the state’s family planning providers in the provision of low cost and free care. This funding means providers can keep their doors open in the short term.
- The funding for family planning care will cover a range of services including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, birth control, cancer screenings, routine gynecological exams, and well person care, vaccinations, gender-affirming care, and behavioral health services. It does not include funding for abortion care.
Family Planning Care in Maine
- Maine’s critical family planning care network consists of more than 60 service sites and a mobile health unit and serves more than 31,000 patients annually, 70% of whom qualified for free or discounted care in recent years.
- Maine’s family planning network consists of 19 Maine Family Planning (MFP) sites; four Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) health centers; 32 Federally Qualified Health Centers; and eight school-based health centers.
- Providers offer free care to Maine’s most vulnerable populations. Mainers already face barriers to care including financial and logistical challenges of accessing a provider, challenges that are particularly acute in more rural areas of the state.
- The services Maine’s family planning providers offer have for decades been undervalued, and providers are now navigating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing costs of delivering care, growing demand for free and reduced care, insufficient and stagnant reimbursement rates, and ongoing political attacks.
Highlights of some of the recent attacks
- January 2025 – President Trump signs executive order to defund gender-affirming care for youth. This order is not yet in effect and is moving through the courts.
- January 2025 – President Trump rescinds a previous executive order that established the White House Gender Policy Council. The rescission removes protections for gender equity and health care.
- April 2025 – The Trump administration began withholding already appropriated federal funding in several states, including Maine and New Hampshire. Title X is the nation’s only federal program dedicated to providing family planning and basic preventive care to people who are uninsured, underinsured and have low incomes. This care includes birth control, contraception education, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV services, and wellness exams, including pap tests.
- June 2025 – Under President Trump’s direction, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded previous guidance protecting the right to abortion care in an emergency nationwide.
- July 2025 – Congress passes and President Trump signs the federal reconciliation bill. The bill includes a provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, including Maine Family Planning, by prohibiting the organizations from receiving reimbursement payments for nonabortion services provided to patients on Medicaid.
- While there are separate lawsuits moving through the courts regarding this provision, right now, neither PPNNE nor MFP can be reimbursed for services provided to Medicaid patients.
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Maine Family Planning is a statewide, private, not-for-profit organization founded more than 50 years ago to assure access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services for Maine people regardless of their ability to pay. As the statewide grantee for both federal and state funds, Maine Family Planning subcontracts with other sexual and reproductive health care providers to assure access through a total of 63 clinical sites, including 19 Maine Family Planning sites, four Planned Parenthood of Northern New England health centers, eight school-based health centers, and 32 Federally Qualified Health Centers. In 2023, Maine’s Family Planning Network served nearly 30,000 people. Learn more at mainefamilyplanning.org.
—————–About Planned Parenthood of Northern New England: PPNNE is the largest provider of sexual and reproductive health care across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In FY24, PPNNE provided care to more than 32,000 patients for more than 47,000 visits. There are 15 health centers across the region, including 4 in Maine. PPNNE was named a 2021 and 2022 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner by Press Ganey, the national leader in health care consumer and workforce engagement. Press Ganey recognizes PPNNE as a top-performing health care organization, achieving the 95th percentile or above for performance in patient experience
