By PATRICK WHITTLE
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — In a significant shift affecting low-income healthcare in Maine, a network of clinics is set to discontinue its primary care services this Friday. This decision comes in response to cuts imposed by the Trump administration targeting abortion providers.
Maine Family Planning, which runs 18 clinics across the state, will cease its primary care operations while continuing other services such as cancer screenings and STD testing. The clinics have been impacted by a policy that blocks Medicaid funds from reaching abortion providers, including larger entities like Planned Parenthood.
George Hill, president of Maine Family Planning, expressed concerns about patient care disruptions. “Telling those patients we can’t see them anymore has been devastating, especially knowing that some of them will find it too difficult to get a new provider and may just forego care,” Hill stated.
The organization, which caters to many underserved and rural communities, typically receives approximately $1.9 million annually through Medicaid reimbursements. The network, serving around 8,000 patients in total, informed its patients about the impending closure of primary care services roughly a month ago.
Despite efforts to contest the Medicaid funding cuts in court, Maine Family Planning faced a legal setback in August when a federal judge denied their request to restore funding amidst ongoing litigation. The network has since appealed the decision, continuing the legal battle.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the network in its federal lawsuit, vows to persist in efforts to reinstate the funding. Nancy Northup, president of the Center, remarked that the funding loss is “part of a larger strategy to shut down clinics even in states like Maine that protect the right to abortion.”
