Just like she misled Mainers about her vote for Kavanaugh, Collins would help Trump build a Supreme Court that threatens Roe v. Wade
Within hours of being named to Donald Trump’s shortlist for second term Supreme Court nominees, Senator Tom Cotton made his position on reproductive rights unmistakeable. But a nominee’s “obvious” anti-choice views haven’t stopped Senator Susan Collins from voting to confirm extreme Trump judges in the past, and there’s no reason to believe that would change if she wins reelection.
When she announced that she would be voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Collins promised Mainers that he posed no threat to Roe v. Wade and would respect precedent in reproductive rights cases. But when Kavanaugh proved her wrong at the first opportunity by issuing a precedent-defying dissent in the June Medical case, Senator Collins doubled down on her support for him.
Senator Cotton was hardly the only anti-reproductive rights crusader on Trump’s SCOTUS shortlist—Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are as anti-choice as they come. Hawley made headlines earlier this year when he vowed that he would only vote for Supreme Court nominees who said Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. And when he ran for president in 2016, Cruz argued Roe v. Wade is not settled law, and called for abortion bans with no restrictions. Any one of Trump’s potential Supreme Court picks would pose an existential threat to Mainers’ reproductive rights on the Supreme Court, and based on her record, Senator Collins would help them get there.
“Senator Collins already tried to convince Mainers that an anti-choice nominee posed no threat to Roe v. Wade when she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, and voters won’t give her the chance to do that again,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “The choice in this election is clear: Speaker Sara Gideon is a proven champion for reproductive rights while Senator Susan Collins has been a rubber stamp for Trump’s extreme anti-choice nominees. Mainers are ready for a change.”
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