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Based on a recent Bangor Daily News article regarding the public hearing on LD 1619, Maine legislators’ radical abortion bill, the reporter stated that “marathon hearings are rarely representative of public opinion.”
If that is the case, why have public hearings at all? Logic tells us that public hearings help legislators gauge the will of Maine voters. To credit the reporter, he said that voters against LD 1619 vastly outnumbered those who supported the bill. Roughly 65 people spoke in favor of the bill, compared with 650 who spoke against the bill. It was an all-night marathon in which some opponents of the bill waited until 7 a.m. to talk to the Judiciary Committee for only one minute.
On May 1, Maine voters turned out in historic numbers to protest this abortion bill. LD 1619 would put our laws in the company of North Korea and China. Most European countries restrict abortion to below fetal viability (for example, Germany and Italy at 12 weeks).
People should contact their legislators and ask them to vote against LD 1619.
Kathryn Swegart
Rome
