Maine Gov. Janet Mills to signal invoice permitting late-term abortions

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is anticipated to signal a invoice handed on Thursday that enables post-viability abortions when deemed medically vital.

The invoice was launched in April with Mills' backing and handed within the Home 73-69 on June 27 and within the Senate by a margin of 20-11 on Thursday.

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"After viability an abortion could also be carried out solely when it's vital within the skilled judgment of a [licensed] doctor," reads the laws.

Though abortion in Maine have to be carried out by a state-licensed healthcare skilled, the invoice additionally removes prison penalties for abortion suppliers who are usually not licensed by the state.

The Republican minority in each chambers of the legislature put up a big and emotional struggle towards the act, saying that the laws grants an excessive amount of authority to medical doctors in figuring out the appropriateness of the process. Some Republican lawmakers additionally unsuccessfully steered revisions to the invoice, akin to including language requiring a deadly prognosis for the mom or youngster.

Abortion in Maine is presently authorized for any motive till the authorized normal of fetal viability, which is often roughly 24 weeks gestation, however scientific advances have made this language questionable within the eyes of anti-abortion advocates. The brand new regulation would enable abortions at any time if authorised and facilitated by a physician.

In the USA, 4,832 abortions in 2020 have been carried out with a gestational age of better than 21 weeks, accounting for almost 1% of all abortions within the nation, in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Nationwide, 7% of abortions, or 31,882, happen after 14 weeks gestation. In Maine, 95 abortions, or 5% of the overall within the state in 2020, have been after 14 weeks of gestation