- Collins blamed Gorsuch and Kavanaugh for potentially misleading her on their views of
abortion . - Her statement comes in wake of the publication of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
Republican Sen.
"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. "
Collins, a rare Republican who supports abortion rights in some circumstances, previously defended her decision to vote for both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmations. At the time, she said that her votes came with the understanding that neither justice would support a full-frontal overturning of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the two most critical court decisions in the establishment of abortion rights.
"I do not believe that Brett Kavanaugh will overturn Roe v Wade," Collins told CNN in 2018 after voting to confirm Kavanaugh. "And listen to the standards that he put forth, again, in his conversations with me and also in the hearing."
Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing called Roe v. Wade "precedent on precedent," alluding to the fact that the Supreme Court has upheld aspects of its landmark 1973 decision in other rulings. The biggest example of this is Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which changed aspects of Roe but largely reaffirmed a right to privacy that covers a right to an abortion.
"The Supreme Court has recognized the right to an abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade case — has affirmed it many times," Kavanaugh told Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, during his confirmation hearing.
Gorsuch, who was grilled over his past statements, said during his confirmation hearing that Roe was "the law of the land." Trump's first Supreme Court pick was under scrutiny over his writing in a book about euthanasia, The Atlantic reported at the time. Some conservatives viewed Gorsuch's statement in the book that "the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong" as a signal of his views on abortion.
"Senator, as the book explains, the Supreme Court of the United States has held in Roe v. Wade that a fetus is not a person for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the book explains that," Gorsuch told Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, during his confirmation hearing.
Collins did not vote for President Donald Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett. She objected to the timing of Barrett's nomination after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
On Monday night, Politico published a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. The outlet reported that Justices Clarence Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Alito formed an initial majority to overturn Roe v. Wade outright. Draft opinions do not necessarily reflect the final decision and any justice could change their mind before the final ruling comes down.
The Supreme Court confirmed on Tuesday that the draft opinion obtained by Politico was "authentic."