Maine Gov. Janet Mills and legislative leaders want to expand access to abortion — allowing abortions after 24 weeks with a doctor’s approval — and take steps to protect health care providers by updating data collection policies.

One of the bills would allow abortion access anytime before birth if deemed necessary by a physician. Current state law bans abortions after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at roughly 24 weeks.

Mills, a Democrat, cited the case of a Yarmouth veterinarian, Dana Peirce, who was forced to travel to Colorado for an abortion because it was forbidden in Maine later in pregnancy. Peirce’s tests at 32 weeks revealed that the fetus had a deadly form of skeletal dysplasia.

‘The decision to have an abortion is deeply personal and, as in Dana’s case, can be heartbreaking. Fundamentally, these are decisions that should be made by a woman and her medical provider,’ Mills said.

The announcement by Mills, House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross and Senate President Troy Jackson — all Democrats — came days ahead of what would’ve been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned last June.

The lawmakers contended that one in three women across the country have lost access to safe, legal abortions since states began banning the procedure.

Talbot Ross said Maine is going to protect abortion access and health care providers. ‘We are serving as a light that inspires others around the country by protecting those who need it and showing exactly how to fight back,’ she said.

Republicans were working on a statement in response to the announcement.

In Maine, a Republican governor in 1993 signed a law affirming the right to abortion before a fetus is viable. Under current law, abortion is only allowed after that if the life or health of the person who is pregnant is at risk, or if the pregnancy is no longer viable.

Mills said she hasn’t made a decision on whether Maine should put forward a constitutional amendment to enshrine the state law. She said the matter is currently under review by the attorney general.

Peirce said she was shocked to learn during a routine screening that her son — she’d already named him Cameron — had a deadly condition and was suffering in the womb from a broken bone and other problems.

Mills said that no one should have to go through what Peirce went through — and to have to seek health care in another state for something that was medically recommended.

‘This was a really sad thing to happen. We did our best. I’m doing my best now to change it for other people,’ Mills said.

A group of South Dakota Republican lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday to outlaw gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, pushing the state to join at least a dozen others considering anti-transgender legislation this year.

The South Dakota bill, unveiled at a state Capitol news conference, aims to keep children younger than 18 from accessing puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy or surgeries that enable them to present as a gender different from the sex on their birth certificate. It would also punish doctors who provide the care by revoking their medical license and exposing them to civil litigation.

South Dakota Republicans have perennially considered bills aimed at limiting the health care, school facilities and sports teams that transgender youth can access. A law banning trans girls and college-age women from participating in sports that match their gender went into effect after the Legislature passed it last year.

Though other proposals aimed at trans youth have found mixed success in the Republican-controlled Statehouse, critics said that even bringing the proposals sends a harmful message to trans children.

‘Gender-affirming care is a critical part for helping transgender adolescents succeed in school, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family and really, truly live authentically to who they are,’ Democratic Rep. Erin Healy said.

But Republican Rep. Jon Hansen, one of the lawmakers pushing the bill, argued that puberty was a ‘natural cure’ for gender dysphoria, which is the distress felt when someone’s gender expression does not match their gender identity.

‘This is a mental health problem that needs to be addressed,’ said Republican Rep. Bethany Soye, who is the bill’s primary sponsor.

Samantha Chapman, the advocacy manager for the ACLU of South Dakota, said in a statement that the lawmakers proposing the bill were spreading ‘lies and misinformation’ about trans people.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said last year that teens experiencing gender dysphoria can start taking hormones at age 14 and can have certain surgeries at ages 15 or 17. The group acknowledged potential risks but said it was unethical to withhold early treatments, which can improve psychological well-being and reduce suicide risk.

However, conservative state lawmakers across the country have targeted trans health care. Last year, Arkansas and Alabama passed similar bans. But both were blocked by federal courts.

‘Every year, South Dakota lawmakers zero in on transgender youth,’ Chapman said. ‘And every year the transgender community is hurt while meaningful problems go unaddressed.’

A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday dismissed an open records complaint against a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who served as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump.

Allegations that the elections commission violated the state open records law by wrongly withholding documents will go forward, but claims made against Commissioner Robert Spindell were dismissed by Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost.

The commission itself, not Spindell, is the legal authority that must maintain the records in question and be the target of any lawsuit seeking them, Frost ruled after oral arguments.

Madison-based law firm Law Forward, known for the liberal-leaning cases it takes, filed the lawsuit against the commission and Spindell. Law Forward attorney Scott Thompson said after the hearing that he remained optimistic the records would be turned over even though Spindell is no longer a party to the lawsuit.

Spindell’s attorney, Mark Maciolek, called the judge’s ruling a correct but technical one.

‘It does not relieve anyone in government of their obligations to preserve and produce public records,’ he said.

The lawsuit stems from a complaint filed by Law Forward with the elections commission in 2021. It alleged that Republicans illegally posed as Wisconsin electors in an attempt to convince the U.S. Congress to declare that Trump won the state in 2020, even though he in fact lost to President Joe Biden by about 21,000 votes.

Republican attempts to cast electoral college votes for Trump in seven swing states he lost were a focus of the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission last year rejected a complaint about the events, saying that Republicans who attempted to cast the state’s 10 electoral college votes for Trump did not break any election laws. Spindell did not recuse himself from considering the complaint, even though he voted as one of the fake GOP electors.

In a closed meeting, the commission voted unanimously to reject the complaint.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice concluded that Republicans were legitimately trying to preserve Trump’s legal standing as courts were deciding if he or Biden won the election. That is the same argument that Trump allies and the fake electors from Wisconsin have made, including in testimony to the Jan. 6 committee.

Law Forward filed two lawsuits after the complaint was rejected.

In one pending action, the group alleges that Spindell should have been excluded from considering the complaint before the commission because his actions were at the heart of the matter.

The other case, heard Tuesday, alleged that Spindell and the elections commission failed to turn over records that Law Forward requested multiple times under Wisconsin’s open records law. The law firm sought documents related to a comment Spindell made during the public portion of a November 2021 commission meeting where he openly discussed his decision not to recuse himself from considering the complaint related to fake electors. The commission had been considering the request in closed session only, which made Spindell’s comments unusual.

Specifically, Law Forward asked for communications surrounding material Spindell appeared to be reading from during the meeting. According to the lawsuit, the elections commission provided a single document that resembled what Spindell read from and said Spindell had no other related records.

Frost dismissed claims against Spindell, agreeing with his argument that the commission is the legal authority in charge of the records.

Law Forward brought the case on behalf of Paul Sickel, executive director of the Service Employees International Union’s Wisconsin State Council.

The firm has also filed another lawsuit, currently pending in federal court, against the 10 electors and Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis seeking $2.4 million in damages. That case alleges Trump and his allies conspired to overturn his loss in the battleground state.

Tennessee officials are encouraging rescue squads to apply for grant money to purchase lifesaving equipment.

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office said in a news release $2 million has been set aside to help rescue squads across the state.

Gov. Bill Lee and the General Assembly approved the funding in 2022. Applications will be accepted until Friday, Feb. 10.

‘This program will help provide resources to Tennessee’s rescue squads while fulfilling Gov. Lee’s vision of strengthening Tennessee’s rural communities,’ said Tennessee State Fire Marshal and TDCI Commissioner Carter Lawrence.

To be eligible, rescue squads must have an active registration with the Secretary of State and be recognized by a local government to provide rescue squad services.

Currently, there are more than 90 rescue squads in Tennessee whose specialized services including extrication, structural collapse response, and swift water rescue.

Applicants with questions about the grant should contact Director of Education and Outreach Michelle Price at SFMO.grants@tn.gov.

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger – one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump on charges of ‘incitement of an insurrection’ in 2021 – has removed a listing from his political action committee’s website for signed copies of the now defunct January 6 select committee’s final report.

The listing that appeared on the website belonging to Country First, an Illinois-based PAC established by Kinzinger in July 2021, featured the committee’s final report – signed by Kinzinger – bound in book format and available for purchase for $100.

The listing was removed shortly after a Fox News Digital report highlighted that Kinzinger’s PAC was selling copies of the report with his signature on it.

Hand selected by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Kinzinger, along with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, was one of only two Republicans who served on the committee to investigate the events of January 6 at the Capitol.

Before it was deleted, the listing for a signed copy of the report, which included exhibits and witness testimony, was described by Country First as ‘perhaps the most vital congressional investigation in American history.’

‘On January 6, 2021, the United States came perilously close to losing its democracy. A mob instigated by the president of the United States violently attacked the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., seeking to disrupt the certification of the electors in the presidential election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history,’ the now-removed listing stated. ‘The attack was the culmination of a plot organized and driven by a defeated president, attempting to remain in power through a complex web of deceit, intimidation, and violence.’

Kinzinger, whose tenure as one of the most outspoken anti-Trump lawmakers on Capitol Hill expired earlier this month, announced he would not seek re-election in October 2021.

‘I want to make it clear, this isn’t the end of my political future but the beginning,’ Kinzinger said at the time. ‘Let me be clear, my passion for this country has only grown. My desire to make a difference is bigger than it’s ever been.’

Since leaving office, Kinzinger joined CNN as a senior political commentator, making his debut on the network this month during an appearance on ‘Erin Burnett Outfront.’

Other merchandise available for purchase on the PAC’s website includes baseballs signed by Kinzinger, which cost $50 each.

‘Our Sacred Sandlot is being threatened,’ the listing reads. ‘That’s why we’re putting together teams of reasonable people and common-sense solutions. Become part of the solution and donate today to get an official Country First limited-edition American Sandlot baseball signed by Adam Kinzinger!’

The White House on Tuesday refused to say whether President Biden would sit for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur if asked as part of the investigation into his improper retention of classified records.

Classified records were found inside the Washington D.C. offices of the Penn Biden think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public last week.

A second stash of classified documents were also found last week inside the garage of the president’s Wilmington, Delaware home, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Robert Hurt as special counsel to investigate the matter. Over the weekend, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home.

In a call with reporters Tuesday, White House officials maintained the president’s commitment to cooperating with the Justice Department and the special counsel’s investigation, but refused to answer when asked whether Biden would sit for an interview as part of that probe if asked.

‘We’re not going to get ahead of that and speculate what he may or may not ask for,’ White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams said Tuesday. ‘I’m not going to comment on that and would refer you to the Justice Department on that process and their thinking on how to conduct their investigation.’

Sams maintained that the president ‘takes classified information seriously,’ and stressed that when classified documents were discovered in November, Biden ‘directed his team to ensure any materials be returned to the government.’

‘The president is committed to doing the responsible thing and handling this appropriately,’ Sams said. He said the White House and Biden’s legal team ‘acted promptly to disclose information to the proper authorities.’

Sams said the White House was limited in its ability to respond given the Justice Department’s review and the special counsel’s investigation, but vowed to continue to provide to the public ‘as much information as appropriate.’

When asked for the number of classified records found and for the contents of those records, Sams said he could not address that, as the records ‘have been turned over to proper authorities and will be part of the ongoing investigation.’

As for whether the White House feels it was necessary for Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter, given the Justice Department’s review and the president’s alleged cooperation with that review, Sams pointed to Biden’s commitment for an independent Justice Department.

‘This was a decision for the attorney general to make independently and we were made aware by his announcement that this was done,’ Sams said. ‘We are committed to fully cooperating with the special counsel.’

Sams added that the president ‘ran on’ the premise of ‘restoring strength of the Justice Department’ and ensuring that the attorney general could act independently of the White House.

‘The attorney general made this decision and the president’s team and lawyers are going to be fully cooperative throughout this investigation,’ Sams said.

On Nov. 18, Garland appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate the issue of classified records being held at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

When he appointed Smith, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until last week.

Meanwhile, the White House has been fielding requests from Congress from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and others, and has repeatedly slammed those GOP inquiries as ‘hypocritical.’

‘We intend to respond to Congress in good faith,’ Sams said, adding that the White House also 
expects House Republicans to ‘use good faith.’

‘We’re going to call it out when we see rampant hypocrisy,’ Sams continued, noting that the White House will continue to review congressional requests. ‘But our commitment is to work in good faith with Congress.’

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are declining to answer questions about the possibility that President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials might have jeopardized U.S. national security.

Fox News Digital asked every member of Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress if they agreed with the assessment of some of their colleagues that Biden may have put the nation’s national security at risk by keeping classified documents in unsecured locations, but none answered.

The office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., responded to Fox’s request for comment, but only pointed to statements he made during a Monday interview on CNN, and didn’t address new questions about national security.

‘I remain having full confidence in President Joe Biden and his administration on this matter and on all other matters. I think he has led the country forward in a significant and meaningful way through a few tumultuous years,’ Jeffries said during the interview. He said Biden’s mishandling of the classified material was ‘inadvertent’ and ‘not intentional.’

The office of Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also responded, but only with his statement from Jan. 12 calling U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Biden documents a ‘commitment’ to ‘avoiding even the appearance of politicization.’

The statement focused little on Biden’s actions, and instead focused largely on the issue of former President Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by the FBI over the documents kept there. It made no mention of any national security concerns stemming from Biden’s mishandling of the documents.

No other members of Democratic leadership responded to Fox’s request for comment.

Their avoidance of the concerns comes just days after Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., suggested the intelligence community should assess the documents for any potential risk they could entail.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., also raised concerns about potential national security implications of the documents in a statement released last week, but prior to an additional trove of documents being found at Biden’s home over the weekend.

‘The fact that former Vice President Joe Biden inappropriately maintained and kept classified materials at his unsecured think tank raises serious questions about national security,’ she said.

‘Particularly when the documents were related to Ukraine when Biden family members were on a Ukrainian oligarch’s payroll,’ she added.

The District of Columbia City Council voted to force through revisions of the district’s criminal code that will soften penalties on violent crimes, overriding a previous veto from the mayor’s office.

Bowser vetoed the Revised Criminal Code Act earlier this month after the council, which lacks a single Republican member, voted unanimously to adopt it in November. 

Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who voted to overturn the veto, argued Tuesday that ‘allowing the veto to stand would be a significant step back in our work to modernize the criminal code, negating years of work, compromise and engagement by the Council.’

The overhaul of the city’s criminal code includes reduced maximum sentences, the elimination of nearly all mandatory minimum sentences, and expanded rights to jury trials by those accused of misdemeanors. 

Criminal justice reform advocates say the bill is necessary to modernize the law, which was written in 1901, and ensure that punishments are proportionate to the crimes being committed. 

‘It is a long overdue overhaul of our criminal Code, which was first handed down to us from Congress back in 1901, a Congress that, if you can believe it, is even more dysfunctional and unrepresentative the District Columbia than what we have today,’ said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen.

But opponents have sounded the alarm on provisions that would allow D.C. inmates to ask for early release 20 years into their sentence, even those accused of violent crimes like murder or sexual assault. 

‘Anytime there’s a policy that reduces penalties, I think that sends the wrong message. That takes the focus off using guns or possessing guns, and I think that’s the wrong way to go,’ Bowser previously wrote about her decision to veto. 

She continued, ‘I’m also very concerned the courts have the resources to keep up with the law. And we are just now seeing the courts really get going full force post-pandemic, and what this law would suggest is that the number of trials would skyrocket.’

The DC City Council’s Tuesday decision sends the bill to Congress, where federal lawmakers will have 60 days to review it. 

Within that period, Congress may enact a joint resolution disapproving the Council’s Act. If President Biden approves the resolution, the act will be prevented from becoming law. 

If enacted, the revisions will go into effect in 2025.

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he would not consider suspending or stopping the Big Apple’s sanctuary city policies amid the influx of migrants from the southern border.

The Democrat told reporters on Tuesday that’s ‘not on the agenda at all.’ 

Adams said that New York has ‘no more room but we’re still finding spaces and accommodating and we’re going to continue to do that.’ 

‘That is our law, that is our obligation and that is what’s morally right,’ he added. ‘We’re going to do that.’ 

However, the mayor acknowledged the burden the influx of asylum seekers was having on the city and New Yorkers. 

‘It is unfair,’ Adams continued, ‘And, we’re going to continue to take sure that we don’t have families that are sleeping in the street because we did not do the best we can to accommodate them.’

Later, Adams highlighted that he believes this issue should be coordinated through FEMA, the ‘same way as we treat any major disaster or major crisis,’ as well as the Border Patrol and cities or states.

‘The lack of coordination is really causing this to be hit by certain cities,’ Adams explained.

The mayor said he would continue to call for assistance from the federal government. 

‘We need spaces now. We need locations now,’ Adams urged, noting that the money would come both from the Biden administration and the state government. 

‘This is a federal issue. This is a national issue. El Paso should not have gone through that,’ he said. 

‘This is wrong for the cities of America to take this on,’ Adams added. 

Road signs warning drivers of ‘unexpected pedestrians’ have gone up in El Paso, Texas amid a surge in migrant crossings at the southern border — with risks posed to both drivers and migrants.

Signs warning drivers to ‘watch for unexpected pedestrians’ have gone up in recent months in El Paso along highways next to border barriers sealing off the border with Mexico. El Paso is one of the areas that saw some of the biggest spikes in migrants coming across the border in recent months, with the city declaring a state of emergency in December.

There were more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in FY 2022, and so far the months in FY 2023, which began in October, are outpacing the months of the prior fiscal year. That’s in addition to nearly 600,000 ‘gotaways’ who slipped past overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and got into the country.

Sources told Fox News this week that there were more than 250,000 migrant encounters in December, a new record, in addition to more than 70,000 ‘gotaways.’

Migrants are regularly trafficked into the U.S. by smugglers and released along the border in ways to avoid Border Patrol — even if that is in a dangerous area for the migrants.

As that is happening, there is an increased risk that migrants entering the U.S. illegally between ports of entry cross highways or other roads.

KFOX14 reported that signs began going up at the end of November after an increase in crashes — including a 12-year-old Mexican girl who was hit and killed by a car. The outlet reported that 10 signs were going up in the area.

President Biden recently visited El Paso after announcing a number of new border measures designed to discourage illegal crossings and expand legal asylum pathways for migrants. 

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) updating its directives on vehicular pursuits, which the agency said provides ‘a clear framework for weighing the risks of conducting pursuits, such as the dangers they present to the public, against the law enforcement benefit or need.’ 

That policy lays out the factors for CBP agents to consider when deciding if a vehicle — for instance one suspected in human smuggling — should be pursued or not.