Augusta, ME – New reporting in the Maine Beacon reveals that Susan Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who ultimately voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, is just one of many votes she has taken throughout her career to undermine Mainers’ reproductive rights.

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Maine Beacon: Collins’ anti-reproductive rights record extends far beyond Kavanaugh vote

By Channa Steinmetz

Tuesday, August 5, 2026

• One of Sen. Susan Collins’ most infamous votes was her 2018 decision to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who played a key role in overturning Roe v. Wade. But Collins, who has claimed to be a “pro-choice” Republican, has made several other decisive votes against reproductive rights.

• After a draft Supreme Court opinion revealed that the Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, Collins still voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would have codified abortion protections into federal law.

• The vote came after Collins had helped confirm Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, three of the five justices who ultimately voted to overturn Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

• Before voting to confirm Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, Collins said she believed they viewed Roe as settled precedent and would not vote to overturn it. Both justices had previously established records opposing abortion rights and were supported by conservative legal groups that had made overturning Roe a central goal.

• Collins’ Senate record also includes numerous votes supporting anti-abortion judicial nominees, Cabinet officials and legislation.

• She voted to confirm at least 43 federal judges nominated by Pres. Donald Trump who had records opposing abortion rights. Among them were judges who supported fetal personhood policies and restrictions on abortion and contraception access.

• Her legislative record includes votes to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, support abortion funding restrictions through the Hyde and Dornan amendments, and advance Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” despite warnings that it would reduce access to health care services, including reproductive care.

• Less than two months after the bill became law, Maine reproductive health providers said many patients would soon lose access to primary care because of the changes.