Three years ago, many assumed that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was the final check mark on the anti-abortion movement’s to-do list. Overnight, federal protections for abortions evaporated, and the right to abortion became a privilege — depending on which state you live in and how easily you can access care.

Instead of ending the debate over abortion as opponents to Roe claimed, the Dobbs decision served as a catalyst for anti-abortion politicians to go further; the health and the life of a pregnant woman no longer mattered. Victims of rape would be denied access to abortion and treatment of miscarriage could involve criminal investigation. The true intent of this movement has become clear: Ban all abortions in every state, no matter the reason.

Meanwhile in Maine, we resisted. We rallied. We resolved to never go back.

Voters turned out in record numbers to elect leaders who promised to fight to protect reproductive rights and freedoms. Those leaders responded in 2023 and 2024 by passing historic legislation that positioned Maine as a leader not only in fortifying the protections of Roe but, where those protections failed pregnant people and their families, expanding them.

Support for abortion rights is the highest it’s been in history; 81% of Americans don’t want politicians involved in decisions about pregnancy, and anti-abortion politicians and their donors know this. But it hasn’t stopped them.

In May, for example, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill with a provision to ban patients on Medicaid from getting care at Planned Parenthood. Despite the claims to the contrary, the bill has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. The provision related to Planned Parenthood would cost taxpayers $300 million. The U.S. Senate released its own version of this plan just last week.

More than 1 in 4 patients who receive health care at Planned Parenthood’s four health centers in Maine are covered by Medicaid. The care we provide is vast: birth control, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and more. But we’re being targeted — and our patients’ ability to access this health care is being targeted — because we provide abortion care.

I am not going to sugarcoat what we’re facing now. If the federal budget bill passes and the Trump administration continues to withhold other funds we have legally been awarded, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England would lose $5 million annually, or 42% of our patient revenue. These funds cover miscarriage treatment, cancer screenings, birth control, menopause care and so much more. We are a critical safety net provider in New England and without us, Mainers and anyone who comes to our state for health care will feel the impact.

In the last year alone, we provided $1.2 million in free and reduced cost care to patients in Maine. We don’t turn anyone away, and we are proud to offer care regardless of anyone’s ability to pay. But right now, all of this is at risk.

Maine’s strong laws protecting abortion are necessary in our current political landscape, but those protections mean nothing if patients have nowhere to access the care they need, when they need it.

We are proud of Mainers who continue to take action to stand against attacks on our rights and access to care. This resistance is necessary and meaningful. We are grateful to the Mainers who have stepped into the spotlight to share their own stories of how accessing care at Planned Parenthood enabled them to gain control over their bodies, lives and futures.

We encourage anyone who can to contact our elected leaders in Congress and tell them what Planned Parenthood means to you. We will continue to fight for everyone’s right to abortion and all reproductive health care. We remain resolved to keep moving forward but we can’t do it alone. We need you.