Maine’s legislature will consider a bill proposed by Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Sagadahoc) that would enshrine abortion in the State’s constitution when it reconvenes in January.
“Every person has a right to personal reproductive autonomy, which is central to dignity and the liberty to determine one’s own life course,” says Sen. Vitelli’s bill.
Vitelli’s bill, LD 780, would change the state’s constitution to enshrine “personal reproductive autonomy,” effectively preventing any legal attempts to curtail abortion at any stage in a pregnancy.
If Vitelli’s bill passes, it will be taken up in November as a ballot question and will require support from the majority of Maine voters before it is enacted.
In Maine’s most recent election, this past November, a constitutional amendment that passed through the legislature failed overwhelmingly on the ballot.
That amendment would have allowed non-residents to collect signatures for citizen initiatives or referendum petitions.
Vitelli’s bill is a carry-over from the previous legislative session and will be considered alongside other carry-overs, such as Sen. Joe Baldacci’s (D-Penobscot) bill which would remove all references to marijuana from Maine’s criminal code.
Abortion has become a contentious issue in state legislatures following the overturning of Roe V. Wade last year, which removed the federal permission for abortion, putting the decision up to states.
Some states, such as Texas and Alabama, have used their new freedom to criminalize nearly all abortions, while others have passed amendments, like Vitelli’s bill, enshrining abortion into the state constitution, such as Minnesota and Kansas.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="23969 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=23969">3 Comments
I support this: Abortion kills future Democrats.
That’s kinda what the supreme court said, leave it to the states to decide. If they want to get everybody onboard with this bill it should simply read “the right to personal autonomy” This way the governor could no longer have people fired for not taking an experimental shot. I agree with the first post, the rest will take care of itself in a generation or so.
Vitelli and the baby killer Democrats are virtue signaling once once again. They’re also pretty weak strategists since they wouldn’t have to resort to cheating during elections if they hadn’t aborted 63 million possible voters since 1973. Btw, almost a third of those babies were black from the inner cities. Tell me again why black people should continue to vote for Democrats?