Maine lawmakers are a single vote from approval of bill to allow later abortions

By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine House has voted again to allow later abortions in some circumstances, putting the proposal one final vote away from going to the governor for her signature. The 73-69 vote in the House Tuesday evening capped an emotional day that included demonstrators singing hymns in the State House hallways. The Senate, which supported the bill in its initial vote Tuesday, must cast a final enactment vote on the legislation that’d give the state one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country. The bill would allow abortions any time before birth if deemed medically necessary by a doctor. Current state law bans abortions after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks, unless a mother’s life is at risk.