Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted with Democrats Thursday to oppose confirmation of a federal judge who has been criticized for her views on abortion. Wendy Vitterhas also come under fire for appearing to back discredited claims that link abortion and birth control pills to increased risk of cancer and violent relationships.
Despite Collins’ vote, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted 52-45 to confirm Vitter as a judge to the Eastern District of Louisiana. Collins’ vote appeared to do little to appease liberal advocates still angry about the Senator’s vote last year to confirm Brett Kavanaughto the U.S. Supreme Court, a vote that continues to shadow Collins as she approaches reelection next year.
Scrutiny of Collins has recently intensified amid passage of anti-abortion laws in Republican state legislatures. Among them is a new law in Alabama that effectively bans abortion and whose authors have acknowledged is designed to test the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure.
Collins told CNN Wednesday that the Alabama law is “terrible” and “extreme” and she expressed doubt that any judge could find it consistent with previous rulings on abortion.
Asked Susan Collins if she's confident Kavanaugh would strike down new Alabama abortion law. "The Alabama law is a terrible law – it’s very extreme – it essentially bans all abortions. I can’t imagine that any justice could find that to be consistent with the previous precedence"
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 16, 2019
Prior to Kavanaugh’s highly controversial confirmation, Collins, a potential swing vote, said that he had assured her that he would defend reproductive rights because of his respect for Supreme Court precedent — a reference to the Roe v. Wade decision.
Pro-choice advocates are not convinced, noting that Republican-controlled legislators continue to pass anti-abortion laws that are certain to be legally challenged and could end up reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservatives like Kavanaugh hold a majority.
Meanwhile, progressive groups continue to scrutinize Collins’ votes on Trump’s judicial nominees, including Vitter. The Demand Justice Initiative, a group that shields its donors, warned earlier this week that it would purchase a five-figure digital campaign questioning Collins’ vote on Vitter.
But Collins signaled that she would vote against Vitter’s confirmation when she sided with Democrats in an attempt to block advancing to a final vote.
In a statement released Thursday, Collins explained why she opposed Vitter, who previously came under fire for appearing to promote literature that attempted to link abortion and birth control to cancer and domestic violence, and for also hedging when asked if she believed that a 1950s Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation was correctly decided.
“At the Judiciary Committee hearing, her answers to a question on the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education as well as the inquiries on her advancing discredited assertions about the impact of contraception and abortion on the incidence of cancer and domestic violence lead me to conclude that she is not well-suited to serve on the federal bench,” Collins said in the statement.
Collins said she questioned whether Vitter could set aside her personal views when it was revealed that she encouraged participants at a 2013 pro-life seminarto urge their doctors to distribute pamphlets linking birth control and abortion to cancer. The pamphlets also alleged that women who take oral contraceptives could be more susceptible to domestic violence.
“These harmful claims have been widely discredited by the medical community,” Collins said. “For example, the American Cancer Society notes that ‘the scientific evidence does not support’ the notion that abortion of any kind raises the risk of breast cancer or any other type of cancer.”
Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King also voted against Vitter, who nonetheless was confirmed Thursday to a lifetime seat on the federal bench.
Collins has not officially announced that she is running for reelection, but has signaled in press interviews that she is likely to do so. So far, no well-known Democratic opponent has announced that they will challenge her.
Originally published 3:40 p.m. May 16, 2019
