16 AGs threaten to use 'every recourse our Constitution provides' if Maine passes law making state a sanctuary for child sex changes

Attorneys general from 16 states across the country have threatened to take legal action against the state of Maine if a bill is adopted that would shield healthcare providers and other individuals, such as parents, in the state from out-of-state legal action for providing or obtaining abortions and child sex changes in the state.

The letter was sent to Maine Governor Janet Mills, Attorney General Aaron Frey, Senate President Troy Jackson, and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross by the attorneys general from Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

"We, the undersigned Attorneys General, write to express serious concern regarding LD 227, a bill pending in the Maine Legislature. While it is extremely unusual for States to interject themselves in another State’s lawmaking, LD 227’s unique constitutional transgressions merit our comment," the letter states.

The attorneys general explain that the bill "seeks to contravene the lawful policy choices of our States’ citizens by imposing on the rest of the country Maine’s views on hotly debated issues such as gender transition surgeries for children."

"The law’s far-reaching provisions are unprecedented."

The bill, they said, "purports to shield from liability those offering or aiding the provision of unlawful services to citizens located in our States — a provision Planned Parenthood asserts would 'safeguard' Maine providers and patients from 'out-of-state laws that ban or restrict care that is legal in Maine.'"

"The law also creates a private right of action for damages against law enforcement, prosecutors, and other officials in our States who are enforcing our own valid state laws, even laws whose constitutionality has been confirmed by federal appellate courts," the letter states. "On top of that, LD227 purports to block valid orders and judgments from our state courts enforcing laws upheld by federal appellate courts."

The attorneys general wrote that the bill violates the Constitution and "flouts the federalist structure that allows each of our States to engage in self-government responsive to the will of our citizens," stating that the bill goes against the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause.

"From a practical perspective, LD 227’s ill-considered attempt to influence and intimidate officials in other States could also trigger a rapid tit-for-tat escalation that tears apart our Republic."

If the bill is passed, the attorneys general stated that "we will vigorously avail ourselves of every recourse our Constitution provides."

During an early March hearing on the bill, those against the bill spoke on concerns they had, including situations where a parent who does not have custody of a child brings a minor to the state for an abortion or sex change without the consent of the other parent, WGME reports.

"I oppose LD 227 because it undermines the authority of parents," said Farmington resident Ruth Copen.

"LD 227 states there is only a legal right to encourage gender dysphoria and not to question it or slow it down. A child can come to Maine and even if a parent objects, they will be allowed any gender service they could name," said Rep Katrina Smith.

Rep Joshua Morris criticized the process by which the public hearing came about, noting that the bill was submitted as a concept bill, and the language of the text wasn’t available publicly until the day of the hearing.

Maine Wire editor-in-chief Steve Robinson said the bill is "the craziest thing that I’ve ever seen," adding at the time that "If you want to try and find the public version of the text of this bill, you can't because of the process that they've used to introduce this piece of legislation, which some are arguing was an intentional effort to prevent people from rallying in opposition to this radical piece of legislation."

Robinson said the bill would allow any person to "take a minor, related to them or not, from another state to Maine in order to get sex change drugs or sex change surgery or an abortion and that would be legally protected health care."

To put it "in context," Robinson said that "This would legalize a rapist taking their victim to Maine to get an abortion to cover up the evidence of the crime that they had committed. This would be legally protected behavior."

"And in fact if a family member tried to sue to have a child taken back out of the state of Maine, they could be sued themselves by the perpetrator of the kidnapping and held civilly liable for attempting to interfere with what would become a legal health care right."

The draft bill defines "Gender-affirming health care services" as "all supplies, care, and services of a medical, behavioral health, mental health, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic, preventative, rehabilitative or supportive nature, including medication, relating to the treatment of gender dysphoria and gender incongruence in accordance with the accepted standard of care as defined by major medical professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the field of gender-affirming care including the Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8, or subsequent version, published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health."

The bill prohibits public agencies, such as law enforcement, from providing information or using resources to further "any interstate investigation or proceeding seeking to impose civil, administrative or criminal liability upon a person or entity" for seeking "legally protected health care activity" such as abortions or sex changes, or "aiding and assisting legally protected health care activity."

Law enforcement is also prohibited from making arrests in relation to out-of-state warrants regarding "legally protected health care activity."

According to Courage is a Habit, LD227 would also prohibit insurance companies from denying sex change procedures and drugs, and organizations such as public schools and nonprofits would be "granted immunity from public scrutiny and potential legal action" if they are facilitating the concealment of minors seeking sex changes.

The bill comes over a month after a Maine legislative judiciary committee killed a similar bill in a 12-0 vote. LD 1735 would have prohibited "the enforcement of an order based on another state's law authorizing a child to be removed from the child's parent or guardian based on that parent or guardian allowing the child to receive gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care."