U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that a leaked draft decision that indicates that the Supreme Court will overturn the right to an abortion is “inconsistent” with what two justices told her in private meetings.
“If this leaked draft opinion is the final decision and this reporting is accurate, it would be completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office,” Collins said in a statement. “Obviously, we won’t know each justice’s decision and reasoning until the Supreme Court officially announces its opinion in this case.”
Collins, a five-term Republican from Maine, voted to confirm both Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, both of whom have reportedly signed on to the opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Her support for Kavanaugh sparked major donations and support for her 2020 reelection opponent. Despite close polls leading up to the election, Collins won by 9 percentage points.
On Monday night, Politico published a leaked draft copy of a February decision that shows five justices favor overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Throughout her political career, Collins has been pro-choice.
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, voted against both Kavanaugh and Gorsuch when they came up for confirmation in the Senate. In a statement released Tuesday, he urged Congress to enshrine the Roe decision into law.
“If accurate, the draft Supreme Court ruling circulated last night would be a dangerous, seismic shift in which the court overturns half a century of established precedent and overrides the most basic, private rights of half the nation,” King said.
He also said he fears the decision “could invite challenges to other longstanding precedents, including marriage rights for same-sex or interracial couples.”
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-1st District) said in a statement that 70% of Americans “oppose a federal ban on abortion care.”
“I share the feelings of outrage, fear, and utter shock that millions of women across the country are experiencing right now,” she said. “If this draft Supreme Court opinion is genuine and Roe v. Wade is overturned, a deeply partisan court will be undoing nearly 50 years of an established right to body autonomy.”
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D-2nd District) described the opinion in the leak “concerning” and cautioned that it’s important to wait for the final decision.
“As an elected official, I have consistently held and openly shared my pro-choice position with regard to abortion and women’s access to reproductive healthcare options,” he said. “If the court ultimately choose to reverse Roe v. Wade, my position will remain firmly in support of the principles established under Roe.”