In 2018, Senator Susan Collins cast a deciding vote to confirm extreme right-wing Trump judicial nominee Kyle Duncan to the Fifth Circuit. Yesterday, Duncan ruled to uphold a Texas abortion ban, defying Supreme Court precedent protecting access to abortion.
Even before Senator Collins voted to confirm Duncan to a lifetime seat on the federal bench, he had an established record of hostility to reproductive rights. Duncan defended restrictions on abortion in Louisiana and “led the fight” against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate in the Hobby Lobby case.
Senator Collins has defended her decision to confirm anti-reproductive rights judges, including Brett Kavanaugh, by claiming she believes that they would respect precedent and leave abortion access intact. But yesterday’s Fifth Circuit ruling makes it clear that Trump’s far-right takeover of the courts has put reproductive rights on the line.
“It was clear from the very beginning that Kyle Duncan posed a threat to reproductive rights and Senator Collins voted to put him on the court anyway,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “By backing Trump and McConnell’s takeover of the judicial branch, she has paved the way for extreme right-wing judges to end the right to choose as we know it.”
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