Marking the two year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end the legal right to abortion, Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined state lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates in Portland on Monday to mobilize voters to turn out for reproductive freedom in November.
In the past two years, 21 states have enacted abortion bans or restricted abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade, which had generally recognized the right to abortion in 1973. The high court overturned this precedent on June 24, 2022, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
At least 100 people gathered in Monument Square on Monday to hear from Speaker of the Maine House Rachel Talbot Ross, Executive Director of Maine Women’s Lobby Destie Hohman Sprague and others who highlighted the legal protections Maine has added for reproductive health care in contrast to restrictions passed in many Republican-led states.
However, the speakers cautioned that Maine’s reproductive rights landscape is subject to the whims of the party in power and urged attendees to encourage others to vote in the November election to maintain the state’s Democratic trifecta.
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“The Dobbs decision is what created our rage, fueled our rage, but we cannot let rage be what keeps us out here,” Hohman Sprague said. “It needs to be hope. There’s got to be hope for a better future, a more expansive future, a future that protects all of us — people of color, trans people, rural people, poor people. We need to demand the rights and access to control our lives and our bodies and that’s what we’re here for today.” A sign during Portland rally on the two year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Reproductive rights in Maine
Maine’s abortion laws are currently some of the least restrictive in the country.
In 2023, the Legislature narrowly passed a bill in a mostly party line vote to allow abortions at any time during pregnancy if deemed medically necessary by a doctor. Before that, Maine law only allowed abortion after the fetus could be viable outside the womb, about 24 weeks, if the pregnant person’s life was at risk. The 2023 bill, introduced by Mills, was hotly contested with hundreds showing up for the hearing and most testimony coming from opponents.
That state law and others, including a requirement for private insurers to cover abortion and another to prevent cities and towns from enacting restrictive abortion rules, are subject to change depending on those in office. During the rally, Mills said this is why Maine still needs a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedom.
A proposal to enshrine the right to abortion, fertility treatments, and other reproductive health care in the Maine State Constitution fell short of the votes needed to put the question on the November ballot.
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“We still need a constitutional amendment here in Maine to protect abortion care once and for all, so no politician can tell you or me, or our kids or grandkids, what rights they have or do not have,” Mills said.
Despite the failure of the constitutional amendment, the speakers celebrated other protections passed by the Legislature this session.
A “shield law,” which will take effect mid-July, protects the state’s health professionals who provide reproductive and gender-affirming care from being targeted by other states’ bans.
“We passed laws that make clear that we treat abortion for exactly as it is — a safe, medical procedure,” Talbot Ross said, “and we made it clear that we trust medical professionals to provide care that is in their best judgment. We strengthened protections for health care providers so they may offer care to people traveling to Maine […] for abortion care safely without threats for their ability to practice medicine.”
This proposal spurred some of the lengthiest floor debates during the last session, largely about what the shield law would and would not allow. In particular, conservative lawmakers and groups circulated false claims dismissed by legal authorities that the bill would permit kidnapping and trafficking.
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Talbot Ross said she and other state lawmakers took action to protect reproductive freedoms “because we knew Maine people are with us and Maine people are counting on us,” however cautioned that “the Dobbs decision and the rollback of our rights wasn’t just about abortion.”
“This is about the criminalization of our health care,” Talbot Ross said. “And, if this can be taken back, what do you think is going to happen to all our other rights if we aren’t still fighting? This is just the beginning.” Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross encouraged rallygoers in Portland on June 24, 2024 to fight against what she described as attacks on bodily autonomy. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
A call to mobilize voters
The governor also used the rally as an opportunity to contrast the reproductive rights records of the likely presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
“Let’s be clear,” Mills said. “The damage that [the Dobbs] decision has wrought on millions of people across this country falls at the feet of a single person, one man: Donald Trump.”
Mills attributed the overturning of Roe to Trump’s Supreme Court nominations and expressed skepticism about his shift on abortion law this spring, when the former president said he thinks abortion policy should be left up to the states and backed away from supporting a national ban.
“Do you trust him?” Mills asked the crowd, which responded, “No!”
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“I sure as hell don’t,” she added.
The potential implications of another Trump presidency on abortion rights was also a focus of Mills and other Democratic officials at the Democratic state convention earlier in June. On Monday, speakers reiterated their belief that actions by Trump and Republican-led states will have consequences come November.
“The victims of these extreme policies and laws across our country,” Mills said, “those victims — they may be Republicans, or Democrats, they may be Greens or independents, or just non-political — but this year they will be standing up for their rights. They will be voting.”
Yarmouth’s Ian Minnihan looks to shoot against Thornton Academy during a Class A boys lacrosse semifinal Wednesday in Saco. The Clippers face unbeaten Falmouth in Saturday’s state championship. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
The Maine high school spring sports season reaches its conclusion with two days of excitement, as 14 state champions will be crowned Friday and Saturday. Some teams are hoping to win their first state title, while others are trying to repeat, and a few are seeking revenge after losing to the same foes in last year’s state finals.
We asked Varsity Maine reporters for something important to know about each state championship game matchup.Here’s what they said about the three boys lacrosse finals.
Class A: Falmouth (16-0) vs. Yarmouth (13-3)
Yarmouth needs to start fast. The Clippers never trailed by more than two goals in their semifinal against Thornton Academy, which kept the task manageable and allowed them to prevail late. But they fell behind 4-0 to top-ranked Falmouth in an 11-7 loss in the regular season, and against a team with the Navigators’ firepower, that’s too deep a hole. Falmouth has scored 33 goals in two tournament games, so keeping pace early is vital as Yarmouth seeks the upset.
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Class B: Marshwood (14-2) vs. York (11-5)
York intentionally played a brutally tough schedule with this state championship game in mind. Eight of the Wildcats’ 14 regular-season games were against Class A competition. Will the payoff be the team’s first state title since 2023, in its fourth straight state final?
Class C: North Yarmouth Academy (13-3) vs. Maranacook/Winthrop (10-6)
This is a rematch of last year’s final, which the Panthers won 9-7, but the scoreboard will probably be more active this time around. NYA bested Maranacook/Winthrop 17-10 on May 8, and has scored 39 goals this postseason, most coming from midfielders Stephen Connolly, Deagan Nadeau and Gavin Thomas. The Hawks have 32 playoff goals, paced by attackmen Ethan Chilton, Jacob Lyons and Caleb Morgan. With both offenses churning, possessions and defensive stops will be key.
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Drew Bonifant covers sports for the Press Herald, with beats in high school football, basketball and baseball. He was previously part of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports team. A New Hampshire…
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Dave Dyer is in his second stint with the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel. Dave was previously with the company from 2012-2015 and returned in late 2016. He spent most of 2016 doing freelance sports…
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Jimmy covers sports for the Sun Journal, primarily contributing to the Varsity Maine team. He is from Hagerstown, Maryland, and graduated from the University of Richmond in May of 2025 with a B.A. in journalism…
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As I sit here, late at night, staring at a blinking cursor and listening to one of those sound wave channels on YouTube that are supposed to help you block out distractions (distractions like the 3- and 4-year-old upstairs who have come down thrice because they “aren’t tired”), I try to put my finger on what I’m feeling in this moment. In this exact moment, I am sitting on the precipice of a wonderful celebration. Precisely 24 hours from now, I will be coming down off the high of honoring eight truly talented business leaders who through their work or through the work of their organizations have made our region of the state a better place to live. That’s a very cool thing, and even though I haven’t experienced it yet, having done awards events like this for 20 years now, I know it will be special. I’ll recap these winners in the weeks to come and how the Community Leadership Awards event goes, but those stories are for another day, because …
My writing trance got broken … by a YouTube commercial. A YouTube commercial for a political candidate — which one, doesn’t matter. The commercial went something like this: “This political candidate running for office is terrible, they did this awful thing, and that gruesome thing, too. I’m a real Mainer, and I could never vote for the,” then the disclaimer of “paid for by people who want the other candidate.”
I’m so exhausted by it, and it’s only June.
I’m tired of the rage cycles. I’m tired of being bombarded by some twisted version of a fact that portends to be this universe-defining moment of a candidate’s life and definitely predicts who they will forever be going forward (“If she did that, you know she will do this next” or “He has that in is past, which means this is in his future”).
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I don’t want my life, and the next five months, to be filled with that. I just read that $384 million dollars will be spent on the Platner-Collins race alone. What?! Will there literally be any commercials left on TV, radio, print or online? I mean $384 million has got to be pretty darn close to every minute of airtime for five months, right? Will there even be airtime left for the two to three gubernatorial candidates or are we just going to have to share memes for that race?
You see what happened there? I almost went back and erased it because I went down a stream of consciousness cycle of cynicism. I went down that cycle because when that is all that is around you — when it fills your airwaves, column inches and social media — it infects you. It was so easy for me to go from being thankful about being on the precipice of a joyous event to spiraling into cynicism.
Sadly, I think that is very relatable for all of us.
So, let’s choose not to do that.
Let’s intentionally decide, here and now, that when there is joy, we will recognize joy, and when there is not joy, we will manifest it for ourselves. Let’s challenge ourselves to engage in acts of celebration and thoughtfulness. Let’s applaud each other. Let’s actively tell people we appreciate them.
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I’ll start. Here are four examples to lean into, that I hope you can top in the coming days and weeks, to find your joy and manifest it for others. Let’s get competitive — try and beat these.
Twice this year, in partnership with Main Street Bath, I have been blessed to be a part of a ribbon-cutting train where we celebrate multiple businesses back-to-back-to-back. I met an oyster sommelier (I didn’t know that was a thing) who has a four-seat oyster bar called The Parlor. I met a woman who moved here from overseas to make a career by beautifying others at Empire Nail Spa. I’ve met numerous young families and seen their proud spouses look at them as they cut the ribbon, symbolizing that this dream that they are building their family on is worth it. I’ve met subject matter experts who know so much about their specialty that it inspired me to do what I love again and write more.
Another set of joy along these lines was at Half Pint Giants — the new ice cream shop in Brunswick that took over the Frappe Shoppe by the Tontine Mall — and the couple launching that to bring joy to others. Who is sad at an ice cream shop? I saw the overwhelming joy from a huge turnout for the ribbon-cutting of Nest on Maine last week, as over 70 supporters turned out to celebrate their move into the former Cool As a Moose space. And I know I will see that joy again this Friday when Phil, Mattie, Angela and their staff cut the ribbon at the new Moderation Brewing location in the old fire station.
I heard that Hairspray at Main State Music Theatre was pure, incomparable joy, and I’ve also heard that after the tough days the pandemic brought, that MSMT is back to where they were with patrons. MSMT means so much to so many citizens in the region, but also, they are a catalyst for so many businesses in the region. “1776” opens on June 24, with the obvious intention of running through the Independence Day holiday, and that is expected to be a triumph as well.
And finally, for my last piece of joy, my 4-year-old will finish his first year of pre-K tomorrow, and although he doesn’t quite understand the milestone yet, it hasn’t been lost on me. I’ve seen him grow and change in ways I couldn’t have imagined without witnessing it myself, and I am truly excited to celebrate that milestone this weekend and to imagine what’s next for him.
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So, that’s what I’m focusing on. In a world of cynicism, I choose joy. I hope you do, too.
Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Maine Public is pleased to be a media sponsor of Opera Maine’s production of Romeo and Juliette.
Experience Shakespeare’s most popular love story through Opera Maine’s production of this classic story celebrating the power of young love and the price of destiny. Romeo and Juliette will be performed at Merrill Auditorium July 23rd and 26th.
Maine Public members are eligible for 15% off tickets for this event, please use the code MainePublicOpera.
