The option was given in the first poll as I said, but the majority voted in favor of 1.40+1.45. At this point, the versions were developed co-dependently and cannot be split without a lot of work on our side, so the best we can do is to release an earlier 1.45, for example 1.44.
There is another poll currently ongoing in Discord to know if the majority prefers to wait for the full 1.45 or have an earlier version. The release will be handled dependent on the result :).