AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill decried by pro-choice activists as a covert attempt to shutter Maine’s abortion clinics is dead after the Maine Senate voted 21-14 against passage

LD 1312, “An Act to License Outpatient Surgical Abortion Facilities,” would have required that the Department of Health and Human Services adopt rules to ensure “reasonable operational and safety standards” for the clinics.

“This bill will not help the safety of women. Instead, it further places government in the middle of a medical decision between a woman and her medical provider,” said Sen. Cathy Breen, D-Falmouth.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea, who said the measure was meant to protect patients at clinics operated by Planned Parenthood, Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center and Maine Family Planning.

Currently in Maine, physicians who perform abortions at those facilities are licensed and overseen by the state Board of Medicine, which conducts investigations when complaints arise.

The bill left open-ended questions about exactly what new regulations would be imposed on the clinics, stoking fears that new rules would mimic those passed in Texas, which were onerous enough to force more than three-quarters of the state’s clinics to shut their doors for good.

The House rejected the bill in an 84-65 vote two weeks ago. The bill is now dead.