In her remarks at the Republican National Convention last night, anti-choice activist Abby Johnson touted Donald Trump’s record of appointing a “record number of pro-life judges, including two Supreme Court Justices.” Of course, Trump’s record number of confirmations was made possible by Senator Susan Collins who voted for every single one of his judicial nominees in 2017 and 2018, including dozens of judges who oppose reproductive rights.
Collins promised Mainers when she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh that he would respect precedent and posed no threat to Roe v. Wade. But earlier this year when Kavanaugh defied precedent in an anti-choice dissent, Collins doubled down on her support for him. And Collins’ votes for judges to the lower courts are already having dire consequences for reproductive rights. After Collins cast a deciding vote to confirm Kyle Duncan to the Fifth Circuit, he ruled to uphold a Texas abortion ban in defiance of Supreme Court precedent.
Following Collins’ votes for dozens of anti-choice judges, reproductive health care advocacy groups that backed Collins in the past--including Planned Parenthood and NARAL--have flipped this year to endorse Sara Gideon.
“There’s a reason that anti-reproductive rights crusaders like Abby Johnson are so excited about the Trump judges Senator Collins has helped confirm--they know that these judges will work to dismantle the right to choose for years to come,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “It’s clear that Collins can no longer be trusted to protect reproductive health care from extreme right wing attacks.”
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