Last week, Paul LePage claimed that a bill restricting abortion rights would not make it to his desk if he is re-elected because “half the Republican Party wants them [pregnancies] to go to term and half of them are pro-choice.” This is plainly false. In just this past legislative session, Maine Republicans have almost unanimously supported a number of bills which would have rolled back abortion rights in Maine, including:
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Bills to require abortion providers to inform patients about alternatives to abortion and scientifically-incorrect ideas about abortion pill reversal and force patients to undergo ultrasounds, which received only 2 no votes from the Republican caucus.
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A bill to require the cremation of fetal remains, which received only 1 no vote from the Republican caucus.
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Bills to remove MaineCare coverage of abortion and to limit state abortion funding, which did not receive any no votes from the Republican caucus.
In addition to these near unanimous attempts to pass abortion restrictions, the Maine GOP enshrined opposition to abortion into the party’s 2022 platform, and has accepted support from the virulently anti-abortion Christian Civic League.
“Paul LePage saying that half of the Maine GOP doesn’t share his opposition to abortion rights means he’s either lying or has no idea what’s going on in his own party,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “The question is not if the Maine GOP will enact abortion restrictions if they take the State House and the Blaine House—it’s how far they will go. With the guardrail of Roe gone, we cannot let them win back power and take away Mainers’ rights.”