During tonight’s debate, Paul LePage tried to downplay the likelihood that he and his Maine GOP allies would restrict Maine women’s abortion rights. According to LePage, “never once did I attempt to even talk about abortion.”
This is a blatant lie. As governor, he frequently attended anti-abortion rallies, proclaimed “we should not have abortion”, slashed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state family planning agency, and vocally supported overturning Roe v. Wade.
This year, he has refused to rule out signing into law a bill that would restrict abortion rights, and as recently as last month, he told the far-right Christian Civic League that he believes access to abortion should be restricted.
To make it worse, while LePage tries to run away from his unpopular position, his fellow Republicans – who he is vigorously campaigning for – have made their intentions clear: they want to restrict abortion.
In recent years, Maine Republicans almost unanimously supported a number of bills which would have rolled back abortion rights in Maine, and earlier this year, the party again voted to enshrine opposition to abortion access into its platform. LePage’s campaign has also drawn support from some of the most virulent opponents of abortion rights around the country, from Ron DeSantis to Glenn Youngkin to the Republican Governors Association.
Make no mistake, abortion rights are at risk if Paul LePage is elected.
As Governor Mills made clear in the debate tonight, she will always defend a woman’s reproductive freedoms. Since taking office, she has expanded health care access, allowed more qualified practitioners to perform abortions, and required both public and private insurance to cover the procedure. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s move to overturn Roe v. Wade, Governor Mills also signed an Executive Order safeguarding abortion patients and providers from restrictive laws in other states.
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