Over 1,500 people turned out at Maine’s Capitol on Monday to protest a Democrat-sponsored bill that would allow for abortion up until birth.
The bill, termed An Act to Improve Maine’s Reproductive Privacy Laws, calls for the repeal of state laws that offer protections for life after the point of viability at 24 weeks gestation. (RELATED: Supreme Court Declines To Hear Challenge To Indiana Abortion Law)
If passed, the Democrat-sponsored bill strikes current law that allows for abortions performed past 24 weeks to preserve the life or health of the mother, WABI 5 reported. Abortions would instead be allowed up until birth at the discretion of a physician, according to the bill’s wording.
Just 65 pro-abortion Mainers showed up in support of the bill at the state capitol, reporter Greg Price tweeted pictures of the turnout. In contrast, more than 1,500 representing from 250 towns waited for hours to testify against the bill in hearings that started Monday, according to a press release from Maine Republican Representative Laurel Libby.
Democrats in Maine are pushing a bill from Gov. Janet Mills that would repeal the state’s law protecting life after 24 weeks, allowing abortions up until birth.
Yesterday they held public hearings on it and over 1,500 pro-lifers showed up to the Capitol, waiting for hours in the… pic.twitter.com/6GhSdpTEfE
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 3, 2023
After allowing proponents of the bill two minutes to testify their support, Democratic lawmakers changed rules to shorten the time allotted for opponents of the bill to one minute, Representative Libby said.
“Hundreds of Mainers stepped up to represent the stance of the majority of her citizenry in tremendous, record-breaking opposition to this extreme legislation,” Representative Libby stated. “These Maine citizens should have been allowed their full opportunity to speak. To amend the time limit mid-hearing was egregious,” Libby added.
The hearings, which lasted over 19 hours into Tuesday, would have included more than 30 hours of testimony, had Mainers been provided equal opportunity to testify in opposition of the bill, Representative Libby noted.