AUGUSTA (AP) – Abortion rights turned out to be a flashpoint as Maine’s three Republican candidates for governor traded views in a televised forum.

David Emery said Tuesday night he opposes abortion, so-called partial-birth abortion and late trimester abortion, and supports parental notification laws.

Emery’s comment prompted GOP rival Peter Mills to accuse Emery of flip-flopping on the issue. When he ran for Congress in 1990, Emery reversed his position to pro-choice on abortion, but now says he opposes the procedure.

“I seriously wonder what your position really is, Dave,” Mills said on the WCSH-TV program “207.”

Mills, a state senator, said he does not favor changing the state’s abortion laws as they now stand. The third candidate, Chandler Woodcock, said he opposes abortion.

Maine law does not restrict a woman’s decision to have an abortion before viability of the fetus. The law allows post-viability abortions in certain cases and includes an “adult involvement” provision before minors can have abortions.

Gov. John Baldacci, the front-running Democratic candidate, supports Maine law as it now stands.

On another topic, the candidates said that Maine should rein in spending, but gave different ideas on going about it.

Emery said he favors paying down state debts in order to avoid interest charges, holding spending in the state budget to zero growth and tightening up Medicaid eligibility so Maine standards are more in line with those of other states.

Mills would change eligibility standards for the state’s Dirigo universal insurance program so only lower-income people would be eligible, impose “hard deadlines” to get people off welfare and put more business-oriented managers in the Health and Human Services Department.

Woodcock said he’s “not willing to say before this election” which programs should be cut because an assessment of all state programs has not been done.

While acknowledging that the state Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability has been established to scrutinize state agencies, he said that is a legislative creation and the job would be best done by an outside agency.