Augusta, Maine – Today, Susan Collins blatantly lied about the impact of her vote to confirm Justice Kavanaugh during a rare televised interview on Fox News. Asked about the impact of her vote to confirm the Justice who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, Collins defended her decision by claiming that Roe v. Wade would have been overturned whether or not Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed. That is demonstrably false – Roe v. Wade was overturned on a 5-4 vote.
MARTHA MACCALLUM 5:56: […] you held up for quite some time on your vote of support for now-Justice Kavanaugh. Is this an issue that you think is troublesome for you in this race now that Roe v. Wade was overturned in Maine, across the country.
SUSAN COLLINS 6:13: […] the fact is that whether Justice Kavanaugh were confirmed or not, Roe v. Wade would have been overturned, given the six-to-three vote.
FACT CHECK:
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Only five justices, including Kavanaugh, voted to overturn the Roe v Wade precedent entirely.
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Crucially, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not join the opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade—in fact, he “criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe.”
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Ultimately, Roe v. Wade was overturned on a 5-4 vote. Therefore, if Kavanaugh had voted differently, Roe wouldn’t have been overturned.
SEE ALSO:
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Washington Post: “The vote was 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi law. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not join the opinion and criticized his conservative colleagues for taking the additional step of overturning Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a subsequent case decided in the early 1990s that reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion”
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Politico: “The Supreme Court on Friday revoked the constitutional right to an abortion that has been in place for half a century — overturning Roe v. Wade on a 5-4 vote, clearing the way for dozens of states to swiftly ban the procedure and throwing the country into uncharted political, legal, social and medical territory.”
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Associated Press: “Joining Alito were Thomas and Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett. The last three justices are Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago. Four justices would have left Roe and Casey in place. The vote was 6-3 to uphold Mississippi’s law banning most abortions after 15 weeks, but Chief Justice John Roberts didn’t join his conservative colleagues in overturning Roe.”
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