Susan Collins spent decades selling herself as someone who would fight for—or at least not actively hinder—women’s rights. Reproductive rights are crucial for all women and affect every aspect of their lives, but long ago our senator made a conscious decision to start throwing Maine women under the bus.
Despite her claim that she would have protected Roe v. Wade, Susan Collins made the Dobbs decision possible. She voted to confirm Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, without whom the 6-3 vote would not have happened. In comments given to the Boothbay Register, she denied accountability, stating, “You can never predict how someone will vote.”
Since Dobbs, states with abortion bans have seen an increase of 9.2% in maternal mortality, according to a study from Johns Hopkins, and while Maine has strong state protections, Roe was a crucial shield. Not content with three anti-choice Supreme Court nominations, Susan Collins has also approved over 40 anti-choice judges. Added to Collins’ kowtowing to hospital and insurance lobbyists causing maternity ward closures, it seems that she doesn’t care much about pregnant Mainers either.
Is abetting anti-choice rulings her only betrayal of Maine women? No.
While serving on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, she voted against advancing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have required employers to prove that differences in pay between men and women were due to non-gendered factors like education. One of the amendments she proposed sought to end the requirement for pay to be based on merit, which would have made the bill useless. Susan Collins also voted against advancing the Healthy Families Act, which would have guaranteed paid sick leave to many American workers, and proposed an amendment to exempt seasonal workers.
Not only are many of Maine’s core industries seasonal, but women are the majority in many of our state’s seasonal industries, including hospital work. While the act did not make it to the floor, if it had, with this amendment it would have negatively impacted women throughout the state. It’s hard not to view this move as an attack against Maine working women.
A year ago, Susan Collins initially voted against releasing the Epstein files, withholding justice from the victims and showing she cares more about the predators if those predators have her back. Women and girls everywhere are at risk for sexual violence, and by not making the moral choice, Susan Collins showed that our safety does not matter.
The facts are clear. Susan Collins doesn’t stand with Maine women. She’s weakened women’s rights, harmed workers, and stood in the way of justice and accountability. If we want a senator who stands with women, she’s got to go.
