A proposal to broaden entry to abortions narrowly handed Thursday evening within the Maine House, clearing the primary hurdle after lawmakers kicked off an emotional ground debate.
The 74-72 vote was nearer than anticipated after at the very least one Democratic co-sponsor had a change of coronary heart, becoming a member of lawmakers against the proposal that will give the state one of many least restrictive abortion legal guidelines within the nation.
The invoice strikes subsequent to the Maine Senate for consideration.
The invoice launched by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills with the backing of legislative leaders would permit abortions any time earlier than start if deemed obligatory by a medical supplier. Current state regulation bans abortions after a fetus turns into viable outdoors the womb, at roughly 24 weeks, until a mom’s life is in danger.
House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham expressed frustration after the vote.
“The stench in this building is overwhelming,” the Republican from Winter Harbor mentioned.
Passage is taken into account a foregone conclusion within the Democratic-controlled Legislature. The invoice had 76 sponsor and co-sponsors within the House. The vote was solid following the late arrival of a Democratic lawmaker.
One of the co-sponsors, Rep. Walter Wiseman, D-Harrison, mentioned he determined the present state regulation is “doing its job.”
“Let’s stop now before we get in too deep,” he mentioned.
The invoice is one in every of a number of abortion-related payments earlier than lawmakers this session. The debate started days earlier than the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court choice overturning the Roe v. Wade choice that ladies had a constitutional proper to an abortion, returning authority to the states.
Rep. Erin Sheehan, D-Biddeford, mentioned the problem is finest left to those that have change into pregnant and their medical suppliers.
“Medical professionals are best positioned to make the decisions to help Mainers make the decisions that will serve them and maintain the ethical guardrails needed in the later stages of pregnancy,” Sheehan mentioned.
But Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, mentioned the proposal was excessive and out of contact with Mainers who help the present regulation. “We all know that this bill goes too far,” she mentioned.
Rep. Colleen Madigan, D-Waterville, who helps the invoice, was one of many lawmakers to place the invoice in private phrases, noting that her mom didn’t have a alternative when she gave start to a child with a deadly anomaly and watched her new child son die over the course of a day.
Madigan mentioned lawmakers don’t have any enterprise getting into such tragedies. “If you’ve never had to be in those circumstances, be grateful,” she mentioned.
The debate was respectful, however tense at instances.
Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, mentioned many Democrats had been demonized by abortion opponents for supporting the invoice. But he mentioned the choice was troublesome for lawmakers on each side of the problem.
“We need to realize that we aren’t bad people. Neither side. This is a tough decision for all of us,” Lee mentioned.
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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.
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