By Dave Andrusko
In a huge understatement, the Associated Press termed Maine’s new radically permissive law which takes effect today “one of country’s least restrictive abortion laws.”
LD 1619, the new law, states, “After viability an abortion may be performed only when it is necessary in the professional judgment of a physician.” Put more honestly, an abortion-minded woman need only find a compliant abortionist who will abort a baby up until birth.
“The new law allows abortions to be performed at any time with the approval of a physician,” Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald. “Maine is now among a handful of states with the least restrictions on abortion rights.”
“Even before this law passed, Maine is one of the most permissive states and allowed abortion for any reason until viability,” said Bishop Deeley of the Diocese of Portland.
This is immoral. This is not a fetus. It is an unborn child with everything ready for birth. That is not an issue between a woman and her medical provider. It is a woman, her medical provider, and an unborn child. This measure eliminates any protections for children who cannot speak for themselves but will suffer because of it. …
As my brother bishops have said, “In this shifting political landscape, we persist confidently in our efforts to defend life. The work that lies ahead continues to be not just changing laws but also helping to change hearts, with steadfast faith in the power of God to do so. The task before us begins with our knowledge of the truth and our courage to speak it and to live it with compassion. Each of us is called to radical solidarity with women facing an unexpected or challenging pregnancy. That means doing whatever we can to provide them with the care and support they need to welcome their children.
With the backing of legislative leaders, all Democrats, the bill was introduced by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who signed the bill into law July 19. She said the bill “puts the decision about whether to have an abortion later in pregnancy in the hands of women and their doctors — not politicians or lawyers, ensuring that patients can get care they need, when they need it.”
By contrast, Karen Vachon, executive director of Maine Right to Life, told the National Catholic Register, “It’s barbaric, it’s extreme, it’s one of the worst in the country and in all of the world.”
The key vote in securing passage came June 23 in the House. The Maine House of Representatives “passed the bill by a vote of 74-72 — meaning that if one state representative had voted No instead of Yes, the measure would have died,”Matthew McDonald of the Register reported
“All 66 Republicans who voted went against it, as did five Democrats and one Independent. (Three Democrats and two Republicans were absent.”)