WASHINGTON – As Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon prepare to face off during tonight’s third U.S. Senate debate in Maine, expect Sen. Collins to try to distance herself from Trump and Mitch McConnell’s extreme agenda and distract voters from her anti-choice record. This debate comes in the midst of confirmation hearings for Trump Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, as Senate Republicans’ rush to install her to the bench ahead of Election Day.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement ahead of this evening’s debate:
“Susan Collins, in an attempt to rewrite history, is trying to hide behind a ‘pro-choice’ label. Standing for reproductive freedom requires actions not words. And voters know the truth—Susan Collins sold out her constituents and her ‘pro-choice’ values when it mattered most. Women and families in Maine and across the country will not forget that Susan Collins turned her back on them. She cast the deciding vote to install anti-choice ideologue Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, threatening their fundamental freedoms. Susan Collins knows her willingness to sellout reproductive freedom is unpopular and she is trying to avoid paying for her betrayal at the ballot box.”
No matter how much Collins tries to distract voters, one thing remains clear: She was perfectly willing to gamble with the fundamental freedoms of millions of Americans while falsely claiming Brett Kavanaugh would respect precedent, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Voters saw the true depths of her deception when, given the opportunity, Kavanaugh did exactly what we knew he would and voted to roll back abortion access in June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo.
Collins’ unpopular attacks on reproductive freedom are not limited to confirming Justice Kavanaugh. Though she claims to be “pro-choice”, she has voted in support of political interference in family decisions and punishment for doctors who provide abortion care, gutting key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and to confirm dozens of anti-choice judges up and down the bench who are hostile to Roe v. Wade, civil rights, and—in many cases—progress of any kind.
Background on NARAL’s 2020 Political Efforts in Maine
NARAL Pro-Choice America is ramping up its electoral program as Election Day looms. We are running a robust mail program to connect with persuadable voters in Maine as part of our unprecedented $34.7 million dollar political program—reaching, persuading, and mobilizing key voters critical to victory in November. We are activating our 2.5 million members to elect champions for reproductive freedom up and down the ballot. Our fundamental freedoms are hanging in the balance and we must elect Sara Gideon, flip the Senate, expand our majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and send Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris to the White House.