Republicans decry timing of attorney general's bill to expand abortion access
Republican lawmakers are suggesting that Maine Attorney General Janet Mills resign over a bill she has pushed forward that would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform abortions.
The bill is raising the hackles of anti-abortion conservatives, but it could also bolster Mills’ image as a defender of abortion rights as she seeks the Democratic Party’s nomination to be its candidate for governor in a crowded primary field.
Mills has said the bill is about expanding access to abortion services in rural Maine, where it’s difficult for a woman to find a doctor who will perform the procedure, and was prompted by a federal lawsuit involving a northern Maine woman who was denied a five-pill abortion treatment because there was no doctor available to write the prescription for the drugs. The suit against Mill’s office and the state’s 16 district attorneys challenges Maine’s 40-year-old law that authorizes only a medical doctor to perform an abortion.
Some Republican lawmakers also have argued that Mills’ bill shouldn’t even be before the Legislature because the state constitution stipulates that the second half of any legislative session should be confined to emergency matters, state financial issues or bills that are introduced by the governor.
Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/16/republicans-decry-timing-of-attorney-generals-bill-to-expand-abortion-access/
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