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I’m a 65-year-old mother of four living children and six grandchildren. LD 1619’s abortion expansion is terrible for Maine.
In 1975, before my high school graduation, my first pregnancy ended by abortion in Bar Harbor.
I’ve had four abortions, each in the first trimester, between the ages of 17 and 26. I didn’t receive the interventions I needed to help me see things differently. I could never run or hide from the shame and condemnation of my youth.
My innocent babies suffered violent, painful abortion procedures. Today, they would’ve been in their 40s. I wonder who they would’ve been.
I will never experience the joy of knowing them or their children. Society will never experience their God-given gifts, talents and contributions.
I’m also speaking for Maine grandparents and great-grandparents who don’t want this bill. I believe children are a gift from God and the hope of our generations. In Maine, there are approximately 2,000 abortions a year. In 2023, Maine’s listed as having one of the slowest population growth rates in the country. I believe this proposed bill will accelerate the deaths of babies and the annihilation of youth for Maine’s future.
No matter my excuses as a youth, I could not block the sinful abortions out of my mind and psyche. Thankfully, God is compassionate, kind and merciful; we can receive his forgiveness for our sins. He will give us a clean, new life.
Ask your lawmakers to oppose this extreme and unnecessary abortion bill, so Maine will experience new life for our future.
Susan E. Sleeper
Old Town