Maine is set to lose federal funding for its Department of Education and school meal program over Governor Janet Mills’s refusal to conform to the Trump administration’s transgender policies. But the network of transgender groups surrounding Mills and her family — and paying them handsomely — could shed some light on why Maine’s leadership seems unwilling to budge.
Mills’ continued support for these policies seems baffling, given how unpopular they are in Maine.
MaineHealth — where Mills’ sister, Dora Anne Mills, is chief health improvement officer — was a top donor to Mills’ 2022 gubernatorial run. The healthcare system offers damaging and irreversible “treatments” for gender-confused minors, such as puberty blockers, “gender affirming hormone therapy,” and “menstrual suppression.”
Such procedures are lucrative for MaineHealth, and, of course, backed by Gov. Mills.
The Maine Medical Center, which is part of MaineHealth, doled out so-called transgender treatment to the largest number of minors in the state, according to data available from the Do No Harm database. The medical center, according to a report from The Maine Wire, submitted tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of insurance claims on 244 prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments.
In 2023, Mills signed a bill into law that allows minors to access hormone therapies without their parents’ consent. At MaineHealth, there is a “school-based health center” that permits minors to speak to nurses and doctors about their health concerns without parental consent.
“Sometimes, children need to talk with someone who is unbiased, supportive and can offer a fresh perspective,” the website reads. “While we encourage students to involve a parent or guardian in their care, questions that teens may have related to drug and alcohol use, mental health, sexually transmitted disease and family planning may not require parental notification or permission.”
In 2024, Mills signed another bill that shields providers of so-called transgender care for minors from laws in other states that restrict such procedures. Republicans strongly opposed such laws for numerous reasons, especially since the law could potentially help facilitate transgender treatments on a minor without parental consent.
The governor has also signed a bill banning so-called “conversion therapy” for minors who identify as gay or transgender. Critics say such legislation can block parents and loved ones from resisting a child’s social or physical “transition,” as they instead opt for counseling or other options.
Maine-based investigative reporter and editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, Steven Robinson, told The Daily Wire that Mills in 2019 “unilaterally changed Maine’s Medicaid program,” MaineCare, “to force the taxpayers of Maine to fund elective sex-change procedures — procedures that have been shown in diverse medical studies to have adverse health outcomes for patients, especially minor patients.”
“The Maine Wire used Maine’s Freedom of Access Act to determine that these taxpayer-funded sex-change procedures have become increasingly common, including at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, which is part of the MaineHealth network,” he noted.
Robinson also highlighted how MaineHealth’s revenue has exploded since Mills took office in January 2019.
“MaineHealth, nominally a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has seen its revenue grow from $1.54 billion in 2018, the year before Mills took office, to $3.69 billion as of 2023,” he said.
“The governor’s sister, Dora Mills, joined MaineHealth as the ‘Chief Health Improvement Officer’ in late 2018, around the same time her sister was measuring the drapes at the Blaine House, and the confluence of jobs for the Mills sisters has coincided with remarkable growth in MaineHealth’s revenue,” Robinson added. “All a coincidence, I’m sure.”
MaineHealth is bringing in money from transgender “care” for minors while getting the full-backing — even through legislative means — from Mills. Additionally, under Dora Anne Mills’ leadership, MaineHealth has poured money into Mills’ gubernatorial campaign and saw massive revenue growth.
On top of all that, the transgender lobby in Maine spent millions of dollars during Mills’ 2022 election.
“Pro-transgender organizations spent almost $2.5 million on political activities during Maine’s 2022 general election, when Mills was reelected,” a Washington Examiner review found.
The report notes that these pro-trans organizations “are among the largest employers in Maine, put aside millions of dollars for political spending every election cycle, and maintain robust lobbying operations.”
“Extreme outside groups are driving the policy decisions in Maine,” State Rep. Laurel Libby told The Daily Wire. “Polling demonstrates that the vast majority of Mainers do not support biological males participating in girls’ sports and do support parental rights, yet legislation passed the last 5-plus years runs directly counter to that.”
“Governor Mills and the Democrat majority are beholden to radical leftwing special interests and have no regard for the will of the people,” she added.
Libby has notably been silenced and barred from voting by state Democrats for drawing attention to males in Maine competing against females, and, in one case, snagging a girls’ high school state championship in pole vaulting.
Mills has continued to claim that she’s merely following “state law,” which she contends supersedes federal law, as she backs trangedner policies.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed, it is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law,” the governor said in a statement released on April 16, following the announcement of a Trump administration lawsuit against Maine for Title IX violations.
MaineHealth’s vice president of system communications and public affairs, John Porter, told The Daily Wire via email on Saturday that any assertions suggesting a conflict of interest “are an obvious distortion of the facts and, as such, do not merit a response.”
Porter’s email signature includes his preferred pronouns, “he/him/his.” Neither Janet nor Dora Anne Mills responded to a request for comment.
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[[{“value”:”
Maine is set to lose federal funding for its Department of Education and school meal program over Governor Janet Mills’s refusal to conform to the Trump administration’s transgender policies. But the network of transgender groups surrounding Mills and her family — and paying them handsomely — could shed some light on why Maine’s leadership seems unwilling to budge.
Mills’ continued support for these policies seems baffling, given how unpopular they are in Maine.
MaineHealth — where Mills’ sister, Dora Anne Mills, is chief health improvement officer — was a top donor to Mills’ 2022 gubernatorial run. The healthcare system offers damaging and irreversible “treatments” for gender-confused minors, such as puberty blockers, “gender affirming hormone therapy,” and “menstrual suppression.”
Such procedures are lucrative for MaineHealth, and, of course, backed by Gov. Mills.
The Maine Medical Center, which is part of MaineHealth, doled out so-called transgender treatment to the largest number of minors in the state, according to data available from the Do No Harm database. The medical center, according to a report from The Maine Wire, submitted tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of insurance claims on 244 prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments.
In 2023, Mills signed a bill into law that allows minors to access hormone therapies without their parents’ consent. At MaineHealth, there is a “school-based health center” that permits minors to speak to nurses and doctors about their health concerns without parental consent.
“Sometimes, children need to talk with someone who is unbiased, supportive and can offer a fresh perspective,” the website reads. “While we encourage students to involve a parent or guardian in their care, questions that teens may have related to drug and alcohol use, mental health, sexually transmitted disease and family planning may not require parental notification or permission.”
In 2024, Mills signed another bill that shields providers of so-called transgender care for minors from laws in other states that restrict such procedures. Republicans strongly opposed such laws for numerous reasons, especially since the law could potentially help facilitate transgender treatments on a minor without parental consent.
The governor has also signed a bill banning so-called “conversion therapy” for minors who identify as gay or transgender. Critics say such legislation can block parents and loved ones from resisting a child’s social or physical “transition,” as they instead opt for counseling or other options.
Maine-based investigative reporter and editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, Steven Robinson, told The Daily Wire that Mills in 2019 “unilaterally changed Maine’s Medicaid program,” MaineCare, “to force the taxpayers of Maine to fund elective sex-change procedures — procedures that have been shown in diverse medical studies to have adverse health outcomes for patients, especially minor patients.”
“The Maine Wire used Maine’s Freedom of Access Act to determine that these taxpayer-funded sex-change procedures have become increasingly common, including at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, which is part of the MaineHealth network,” he noted.
Robinson also highlighted how MaineHealth’s revenue has exploded since Mills took office in January 2019.
“MaineHealth, nominally a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has seen its revenue grow from $1.54 billion in 2018, the year before Mills took office, to $3.69 billion as of 2023,” he said.
“The governor’s sister, Dora Mills, joined MaineHealth as the ‘Chief Health Improvement Officer’ in late 2018, around the same time her sister was measuring the drapes at the Blaine House, and the confluence of jobs for the Mills sisters has coincided with remarkable growth in MaineHealth’s revenue,” Robinson added. “All a coincidence, I’m sure.”
MaineHealth is bringing in money from transgender “care” for minors while getting the full-backing — even through legislative means — from Mills. Additionally, under Dora Anne Mills’ leadership, MaineHealth has poured money into Mills’ gubernatorial campaign and saw massive revenue growth.
On top of all that, the transgender lobby in Maine spent millions of dollars during Mills’ 2022 election.
“Pro-transgender organizations spent almost $2.5 million on political activities during Maine’s 2022 general election, when Mills was reelected,” a Washington Examiner review found.
The report notes that these pro-trans organizations “are among the largest employers in Maine, put aside millions of dollars for political spending every election cycle, and maintain robust lobbying operations.”
“Extreme outside groups are driving the policy decisions in Maine,” State Rep. Laurel Libby told The Daily Wire. “Polling demonstrates that the vast majority of Mainers do not support biological males participating in girls’ sports and do support parental rights, yet legislation passed the last 5-plus years runs directly counter to that.”
“Governor Mills and the Democrat majority are beholden to radical leftwing special interests and have no regard for the will of the people,” she added.
Libby has notably been silenced and barred from voting by state Democrats for drawing attention to males in Maine competing against females, and, in one case, snagging a girls’ high school state championship in pole vaulting.
Mills has continued to claim that she’s merely following “state law,” which she contends supersedes federal law, as she backs trangedner policies.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed, it is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law,” the governor said in a statement released on April 16, following the announcement of a Trump administration lawsuit against Maine for Title IX violations.
MaineHealth’s vice president of system communications and public affairs, John Porter, told The Daily Wire via email on Saturday that any assertions suggesting a conflict of interest “are an obvious distortion of the facts and, as such, do not merit a response.”
Porter’s email signature includes his preferred pronouns, “he/him/his.” Neither Janet nor Dora Anne Mills responded to a request for comment.
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