In Maine, it's not the law, but availability

Maine has one of the most liberal abortion laws on the books, but a dearth of abortion providers, especially those willing to perform late-term abortions, is sending some women to abortion clinics in urban centers such as Boston and New York, abortion rights advocates say.

Nearly two-thirds of Maine counties lack any abortion services, according to advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America. And those doctors who perform abortions generally avoid procedures after the first trimester, the state's top public health official said.

"I think it's partly because the risks are a little bit higher and everything is a little bit more difficult, the later it is," said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Out-of-state abortions were highlighted this week when the parents of 19-year-old Katelyn Kampf of Portland allegedly kidnapped her and started driving her to New York to force her to undergo an abortion.

New York has become a popular place to get abortions because providers are plentiful and procedures are allowable up to the 24th week of pregnancy. No abortions can be performed after that time period unless necessary to preserve the woman's life.

Maine's law is similar, in that abortions are allowed until "viability," which Mills said is generally between 20 and 27 weeks. State statutes say postviability abortions are allowed only when necessary to save the life or health of the woman.

While many patients go to New York because they face more restrictions in their own states, abortion rights advocate Shauna Shames said Maine women generally just want to find a provider.

Shames used to help out-of-state women get abortions in New York as coodinator for the Haven Coalition. She said the controversy about partial-birth abortions has had a nationwide chilling effect on doctors' willingness to perform late-term abortions.

In New York, however, abortion clinics compete for patients with advertisements.

"You'd have to make an appointment, especially if it's for a late-term abortion, because it's a several-day procedure" said Shames, now a doctoral candidate in political science at Harvard University focusing on gender and women. "But you should be able to get an appointment."

Abortions cost about $500 to $600 at the 12-week mark, and as much as $2,400 at the 24th week, Shames said. Sometimes, she said, women seek late-term abortions because they have spent months trying to raise money for the procedure.

Late-term abortions, however, make up a small percentage of abortions. In Maine, about 90 percent of abortions are performed in the first trimester, said Skeek Frazee, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

"What you see often in later-term abortions is either fetal anomalies and high-risk pregnancy that cannot survive, and you need a specialist," Frazee said.

Frazee noted that Maine's overall abortion rate has fallen in the last decade, and she credited the state's family planning curriculum in schools.

Maine gets an "A" from NARAL Pro-Choice America for its stance on abortion. Maine is cited nationally for its law regarding minors and abortion. Minors in Maine are not required to get parental consent, unlike in many other states, but they need to consult an adult, be it clergy or a school counselor.

However expansive Maine's laws are, it wouldn't matter to some women who leave the state for the sake of privacy.

As many as 15 percent of patients at New York OB-Gyn Associates are from out of state, administrative assistant Kira Canepa said.

"They've seen the name of our Web site, safestabortion.com," Canepa said. "I guess they're looking for a safe and confidential way to terminate their pregnancy."

It's not clear why Kampf's parents wanted to take her to New York, and what led to the incident, which ended with Kampf running away and calling the police.

But some anti-abortion activists have begun to view Kampf as a poster child for their movement.

"She's got a lot of courage to jump out of the car and make a phone call to the police," said Joe Scheidler, director of the Pro-Life Action League. "It sounds like to me she's a gutsy kid and she might be a spokesman for pro-life."

Frazee, however, said the incident should not be mixed up in the abortion debate.

"From the sound of it, this is a sad case of coercion and abduction and has very little to do with Maine abortion laws and policies," she said.

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