In the wake of reports that the Supreme Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, Maine’s most extreme anti-abortion voices have taken on a celebratory tone. “The end of Roe v. Wade is not the end, it’s the beginning,” said Mike McClellan, the policy director of the far-right Christian Civic League (CCL), a group leading the charge to pass abortion restrictions in Maine.
As for the next step for the CCL and other abortion opponents in this crusade? Simple: electing their chosen candidate, former governor Paul LePage. LePage was actively hostile to abortion rights when he was in office, advocating for overturning Roe and saying “we should not have abortion.” This week, he reaffirmed his openness to signing abortion restrictions into law.
LePage and the CCL’s wishlist for another LePage term is clear. First up is rolling back the expansion of access to reproductive health care led by Governor Janet Mills. But that’s just the beginning. The Maine GOP enshrined a hardline stance on abortion in its party platform that, if adopted into law, would likely mirror the extreme anti-abortion bills passed in Oklahoma and Texas that criminalize or ban most abortions.
“Paul LePage and his anti-abortion allies are celebrating the pending overturning of Roe v. Wade for one reason—they know it means they are closer to taking away Mainers’ abortion rights,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “If LePage and the Maine GOP take over in Augusta next year, they would have essentially unlimited power to limit access to abortion in Maine, and they won’t be afraid to use it. We must re-elect Governor Mills to protect the basic reproductive freedoms of all Mainers.”
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