HARTFORD, Connecticut — Abortion opponents called Wednesday for Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration to drop any plans for eliminating provisions of the state’s abortion policy that many residents had assumed were settled.

During two hours of often-passionate testimony in Hartford, opponents and proponents disagreed sharply over the proposal for eliminating three provisions that have been enshrined in the law for more than 50 years and have not been seriously debated by the legislature.

The dispute prompted a special public hearing Wednesday in Hartford over the proposed changes in the regulations on a highly controversial subject. No decisions were made, and the public comment period remains open until Sept. 20.

One of the most controversial changes involves potentially ending the long-running state exemption for doctors, nurses, and medical personnel who object to participating in abortions for religious reasons.

Another regulation that could be eliminated requires doctors and nurses to use lifesaving measures if a premature infant survives an abortion.

The third regulation under discussion states that “abortions may be performed only when necessary to preserve the life or health of the expectant mother” during her third trimester of pregnancy.

Christopher C. Healy, the executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference that represents the Roman Catholic bishops, said the public health department lacks the authority to make the changes without the approval of the legislature.

“We view these proposals as both gruesome and unconstitutional,” Healy said in an interview. “They’re trying to sneak this through by regulatory action.”

Lamont, a longtime supporter of abortion rights, did not have all the details on the hearing and said he would be seeking further information from state health officials.

“I hope it’s not a solution looking for a problem,” Lamont told The Courant in his Capitol office.

State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, a West Hartford Democrat who co-chairs the Reproductive Rights Caucus, said that she strongly supports the removal of the regulations and opposed the views of many at the hearing.

“Anti-abortion ideology should not influence our regulations,” Gilchrest said. “We cannot let anti-choice extremism influence our regulations. There is a separation between church and state. The department of health is the state.”

She said the views of medical providers who object to participating in abortions are already protected by federal law. Another subsection requiring care after a failed abortion contains “anti-abortion rhetoric” that is “not medically accurate,” she said.

When Gilchrest continued speaking briefly after her allotted time had expired, an abortion opponent in the audience interrupted and said that the hearing officer should have cut Gilchrest off.

Representatives from Planned Parenthood said that abortion is safe in an industry that is overregulated, adding that the state health department was taking the proper steps in seeking the removal of the regulations.

Peter Wolfgang, the longtime executive director of the conservative Family Institute of Connecticut, said the proposed changes should be withdrawn.

“You’re opening the door, at the very least, for post-abortion infanticide,” Wolfgang said during the hearing. “It’s crazy that the department would consider removing the protections that we have in the law that explicitly require that you protect the newborn that happens to survive an abortion. … In the last few minutes, you’ve heard references to the Holocaust and slavery and divine retribution. This is tough stuff, man. This belongs in the legislature. This does not belong in regulatory agencies. So please do not exceed your authority. Please take it back.”

The state attorney general’s office and the legislature’s legal office say that the public health department holds the authority on the regulations, officials said.

Abortion opponents outnumbered supporters during the hearing, which was held in a large hearing room on Capitol Avenue. Besides the Family Institute, the speakers included members of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, the Roman Catholic Church, Choose Life at Yale, and the Connecticut Right to Life Education Alliance.

The hearing was scheduled after the state legislature updated the state’s abortion laws in 2022 to allow more providers than in the past. Public Act 22-19, known as the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, expanded the number of medical specialists who are allowed to perform abortion services — allowing advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and nurse-midwives to provide medication and aspiration abortions during the first trimester. The measure was the most far-reaching on abortion in Connecticut in the past 32 years.

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