Collins does ‘not regret’ support for Kavanaugh but ‘disappointed’ with his landmark abortion ruling

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says she does “not regret” her vote to confirm conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, but she says she is “disappointed” that he ruled with the conservative majority in 2022 to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

Collins told News Center Maine in a televised interview that she does not rue her support for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, arguing he was qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, but she disagreed with his decision to give states the power to set their own laws restricting abortion.

“I do not regret that vote. I do disagree with Justice Kavanaugh’s vote,” Collins said.

She said she was “disappointed” in Kavanaugh’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and end 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights but pointed out that it didn’t affect Maine, which enacted a state law in 2023 to expand abortion access.

She also noted that she voted to confirm several Supreme Court nominees picked by former Presidents Obama and Biden who voted in 2022 to uphold Roe v. Wade.

“I would point out that in that decision several Supreme Court justices whom I supported voted the other way. That includes Justice Sotomayor, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Jackson, so I have supported a great number of Supreme Court Justices,” she said.

Collins’s vote was closely watched during Kavanaugh’s contentious Senate confirmation process.

He was narrowly confirmed by a vote of 50-48, and some Democrats thought at the time that he could have been defeated if Collins had voted no, as that could have swayed centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) to also vote no.

“When I look at a justice, I look at their qualifications, their integrity, their background, their experience in reaching a decision. Obviously, I’m disappointed in that decision, which turned abortion issues back to the states,” she said.

Collins is running for reelection for the first time since voting to confirm Kavanaugh.

She’s locked in a close race with Democratic candidate Graham Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer.

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