内容摘要：This story is the first in a two-part series examining how the United States could curb deaths from pregnancy and childbirth.

This story is the first in a two-part series examining how the United States could curb deaths from pregnancy and childbirth.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine officials said Friday the state will not comply with a ban on transgender athletes in high school sports in the wake of a Trump administration finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing the students to participate.The U.S. Education Department

that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams. The investigation followed a publicbetween Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump at a February meeting of governors.The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a final warning on March 31 telling the state it needed to comply with the law in 10 business days or face enforcement from the U.S. Justice Department. That deadline arrived Friday, and the Education Department said it referred its investigation to the Justice Department for further enforcement.

Maine and the federal government are at impasse, as the state will not sign a resolution proposed by the Trump administration to resolve the disagreement by banning the transgender athletes, said Maine assistant attorney general Sarah Forster in a letter to the Education Department.“Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams,” Forster’s letter stated. “Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds.”

Trump has said the state risks losing federal funding if it does not come into compliance. Friday, the Education Department said it was also taking steps toward the termination of Maine’s education funding.

“The Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state’s leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students’ safety, privacy, and dignity,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. “The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department.”The goals don’t have a timeline, and various county leaders are tasked with “championing” each step. Jackson said she’s seeing high energy from employees to begin implementing the action plan, adding: “It’s like the conditions are right for the culture to shift.”

It’s progress that’s “more than the bread crumbs they’ve given us,” said Kula Koenig, the chief program officer at Public Health Advocates.And Phil Serna, the county board member who brought forth the declaration, said it’s important to recognize what has been done — and what still lies ahead.

“I think in many respects dealing with racism, addressing racism responsibly, is kind of like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, right?” he said. “As soon as you think you’re done, you’re not. You have to go back and start painting again.”This story is part of an AP ongoing series exploring the