State Committee Recommends Against GOP Anti-Abortion Rights Bills
by Ethan Andrews Tuesday, May 25, 2021 5:13 PM The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on May 20 issued divided reports on six anti-abortion rights bills, with the majority recommending against passage. The committee, composed of seven Democrats and five Republicans, along with independent Jeffrey Evangelos and Regina Newell of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, split along party lines; Evangelos and Newell sided with Democrats, adding to the opposition.
Two of the bills, LD 748 and 915, would adopt the guidelines of the federal Hyde Amendment, which would eliminate most abortion services available through MaineCare. Supporters argued for consistency of federal and state rules, while opponents said it would create a disparity in abortion services based on ability to pay.
Standing at 1320 Park St., the stately Federal-style columns of the Grider House, hidden mostly from view by thick foliage, are home to a largely forgotten history.
The home, named for Union Army Col. John Hobson Grider â no known relation to the Hobson House â is said to have been where the provisional government of the Confederacy met when it briefly occupied and named Bowling Green as its state capital during the Civil War.
According to its current residents and homeowners, Dr. Gordon Newell and Regina Newell, the effective Confederate state Capitol building hosted notable names like John C. Breckinridge â the native Kentuckian and Confederate general who was once the 14th vice president, serving under the embattled one-term President James Buchanan and the predecessor of President Abraham Lincoln.