PORTLAND, Maine — The marked history of Maine’s attorney general, who recently filed a civil rights lawsuit against a pastor over his pro-life preaching outside of a Planned Parenthood facility in Portland, reveals that the state’s top prosecutor is not only the co-founder of a pro-abortion feminist group, but has also repeatedly sought during her tenure to defend abortion and mock pro-life beliefs.
As previously reported, Attorney General Janet Mills, a pro-abortion Democrat, is seeking to keep Lebanon pastor Brian Ingalls, 26, from standing within 50 feet of the Planned Parenthood facility—or any Planned Parenthood location in Maine.
Ingalls is among a number of Christians who regularly seek to help women outside of the Portland Planned Parenthood, including women who formerly had abortions and are now seeking to turn mothers’ hearts from death to life.
Mills alleges in her lawsuit that Ingalls spoke too loudly on Oct. 23 about “murdering babies, aborted babies’ blood and Jesus” while preaching outside of Planned Parenthood to the point that his pro-life pleas could be heard in the room where examinations take place.
The lawsuit is the first time in the state’s history that the Maine Civil Rights Act has been used against pro-life Christians and in defense of abortionists. Ingalls faces a $5,000 fine for each violation if Mills is successful in her legal challenge.
Mills’ bio outlines that she is the co-founder of the Maine Women’s Lobby, a feminist organization that lobbies in favor of abortion. She also served on the board of the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation, an organization created to honor Smith, who was considered the “woman legislator of the century.”
Last May, Mills belittled Gov. Paul LePage’s pro-life views during a speech at the state Democratic convention.
“I heard Paul LePage say he is dead set against abortion because he was one of 18 children. Seriously?” she said. “So he believes women should be forced to bear children against their will, regardless of hardship, regardless of sexual assault, regardless of circumstances?”
Her Republican brother, Peter Mills, a six-term Maine legislator who once ran for governor, is likewise vocal about his pro-abortion views. The two, along with sister Dora Ann Mills, head of the state Center for Disease Control, were “honored” by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in April of this year for their “support of a woman’s right to make her own personal, private medical decisions.”
In 2013, Mills defended the city of Portland’s decision to create a buffer zone around abortion facilities—an ordinance that was passed by city council with the purpose of keeping pro-life outreaches away from the Planned Parenthood facility.
“A woman has the right to access health care without fear and harassment,” she said in a statement.
However, Portland lost the lawsuit that challenged the imposed 39-foot buffer zone, which essentially pushed pro-lifers to stand across the street from the facility, where they could not provide help to abortion-minded women. The city agreed to pay $56,500 in legal fees over the matter.
Mills’ request to keep Ingalls 50 feet away from the facility would force him to stand at an even greater distance from the facility than the previous ordinance had required—which had to be repealed following a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that found even a 35-foot buffer zone in Massachusetts to be unconstitutional.
“For reasons that can only be described as politically motivated, the attorney general has transformed an unverified noise complaint by Planned Parenthood into a civil rights complaint against a young Christian pro-life advocate,” writes the Thomas More Law Center, which is defending Ingalls in court.
“Sadly, through her baseless lawsuit, the attorney general threatens to fine a young hard-working father and Christian up to $5,000 for peacefully preaching the Bible on the public sidewalk,” it said.