Maine Voices: For those in need of it, any restriction on abortion is extreme

Synopsis

In May 2023, Mainers watched as a marathon 19-hour public hearing in the state legislature carried into the night. Hundreds of people waited in line for hours to give testimony. It became the most attended hearing of the year — and it was about expanding abortion access in the state.

Zoe Reich, who published her testimony in the Portland Press Herald, was one of 300 Mainers to speak at the public hearing. Her story was similar to many other women who had to travel out of state for an abortion later in pregnancy because of the state’s restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks. Like many women who need an abortion later in pregnancy, she got a devastating fetal diagnosis. In her words, “The end of my first pregnancy was heartbreaking beyond words. But my abortion was a blessing, a liberation and a salvation.”