BALTIMORE — Health care workers besides physicians could start performing abortions in Maryland and the procedure would be covered without cost by most insurance plans in the state under legislation passed by the General Assembly and that landed on Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk this week.
The Abortion Care Access Act received broad support from Maryland Democrats, who hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, and was passed over fervent objections from Republican lawmakers who oppose abortion on moral grounds.
The legislation, which also earmarks $3.5 million in annual funding for training medical professionals to provide abortions, is one of two major pieces of abortion legislation introduced in the General Assembly this year in response to efforts to severely restrict access to abortion elsewhere in the country.
