Bishop Deeley issued a statement in January on this specific bill:

https://portlanddiocese.org/news/statement-bishop-deeley-governor-mills-radical-abortion-measure

What the bill does:

This bill would allow physicians to conduct an abortion at any point during a pregnancy, up to the birth of the baby. This would replace Maine’s current standard of no abortion after the point of viability except to “preserve the life or health of the mother” with any abortion after the point of viability if it is “necessary in the professional judgement of a physician.” The word “necessary” is undefined and there are no parameters to determine necessity. 

This bill eliminates any serious penalties for an unlicensed person who provides an illegal “back alley” abortion, and eliminates criminal penalties for licensed providers that perform abortions after viability, further undercutting the law and providing tacit approval of people performing abortions illegally.

Key points to consider:

■ This expansion of abortion would make Maine more extreme than states like New York and California and one of the most extreme states in the country.

■ Abortion on demand, with no limitations, is dangerous and unethical. With no definition of what constitutes necessity, no medical requirements, and no ethics test, there is no way to stop any kind of abortion, even one because of race, sex, or disability.

■ Late term abortion is not “health care.” The definition of health care is “efforts made to maintain or restore physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially by trained and licensed professionals.” Terminating a life due to sickness or disease or any reason is the opposite of health care.

■ Doctors are human and no amount of education or experience gives them the right to be the arbiters of life and death.

■ Planned Parenthood spent millions in 2022 buying elections in Maine and around the country. It was their down payment on this new radical abortion policy.

■ Pro-abortion leaders have lied repeatedly about their true intention. During the campaign in 2022, they were content with the law the way it was. In January, they announced they would propose a narrow expansion to address specific instances of tragic fetal disease and debilitation. Now they’ve moved the goal post once again, proposing abortion on demand, with no limitations to the point of birth.