Maine Executive Order Aimed at Protecting Abortion Rights

Another New England governor and President Joe Biden signed executive orders this week aimed at protecting certain reproductive rights.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed an order called “An Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services in Maine.”

It prohibits state agencies from working with investigators from another state looking into a person, organization or health care provider for delivering abortion care in Maine.

It also directs state agencies to review Maine laws and requirements related to reproductive health care and lawfully reduce those barriers.

Mills, a Democrat, said in a Tuesday statement, "a woman’s right to choose is just that, a woman’s not a politician’s. This executive order makes clear that access to reproductive health care and the health care providers who offer it will be protected by my administration."

"It sends the right message," Maine Democratic Congressman Jared Golden said of Mill’s order, adding that Congress should act in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

“While the court may have taken them away – that doesn’t mean that Congress could reinstate them – or reinstate them in part –clearly there’s a need for compromise to accomplish that," he said.

On Friday President Biden signed a federal executive order on certain reproductive rights, including steps that might lead to national protections of patients’ sensitive information related to reproductive health care.

The president also promised to stand in the way of a national abortion ban if one is passed through a Republican-controlled Congress.

"As long as I’m President it won’t happen – because I’ll veto it," he said.

NBC10 Boston and NECN reached out to a representative for former Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who is running against Mills this fall, asking for comment on Mills’ order and whether or not he would continue it if elected. We have not yet received a response.