Maine abortion invoice has sufficient co-sponsors to make sure passage

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ invoice to develop abortion entry in Maine will generate emotional debate within the coming weeks, however its eventual passage is nearly assured.

There have been sufficient co-sponsors on her invoice, formally launched this week, to make sure passage with a majority. All advised, there have been 76 sponsors and co-sponsors within the House and 20 within the Senate, all Democrats or independents.

The governor’s invoice would permit ladies in Maine to get abortions later in being pregnant if deemed crucial by a medical supplier. It additionally would change reporting necessities and strengthen authorized protections for medical suppliers.

“This bill will help make sure every person who needs abortion care in Maine can get the care they need, when they need it,” stated Nicole Clegg, appearing CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

Maine’s present state regulation bans abortions after a fetus turns into viable outdoors the womb, at roughly 24 weeks. Abortions later in being pregnant are permitted solely when the lifetime of the mom is at risk, however the governor’s invoice would loosen that restriction to permit later abortions if deemed crucial by a medical supplier.

Republicans lashed out on Wednesday in a press convention, arguing that present regulation is ample and attacking the governor for reneging on a marketing campaign vow to depart the state’s abortion regulation alone.

Republican Rep. Reagan Paul, of Winterport, known as the invoice “depraved.”

“This gives the word ‘extreme’ new meaning. It would allow the abortion of a baby up to full term, one that could survive outside the womb. That is extreme,” state Sen. Lisa Keim, R-Oxford, advised reporters.

The invoice’s printing got here days after a federal decide in Texas issued a ruling that might make the nation’s commonest drug for treatment abortions illegal. The Food and Drug Administration accepted mifepristone 23 years in the past.

In urgent for the invoice, the governor cited the instance of a Maine lady who needed to journey out of state to finish her being pregnant after an ultrasound confirmed her son had a lethal situation. In this case, the mom’s life was not in peril so she couldn’t get an abortion in Maine, regardless that her physician really useful an abortion as a result of her son would’ve been unable to breathe.