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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Critics of Republican Senator Susan has slammed her role in the confirmation of conservative justices nominated by former President Donald Trump which had significant impact in the Supreme Court repealing of abortion rights on Friday.
She is
accused of giving her confirmation votes to two justices who helped to form
majority opinion in the Roe v Wade ruling which empowered states to ban
abortion.
The Maine
Senator played a significant role in the confirmation of Justices Neil Gorsuch
and Brett Kavanaugh into the Supreme Court.
Opponents
described her as being naïve or complicit on the ban and a number of persons
have called for her resignation. University of Maine professor Amy Fried said
Collins “helped make this happen,” and the Maine Democratic Party said part of
the blame lies at Collins’ feet, according to The Associated Press.
In a
45-minute floor speech Collins said she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh and
this was immediately followed by the announced by Sen. Joe Manchin that he was
voting for Kavanaugh, according to The Associated Press.
Mainers For
Accountable Leadership, a liberal advocacy group, said Collins “must
immediately apologize to these organizations who she dismissed and demeaned in
her floor speech announcing her support of Kavanaugh,” according to The Associated
Press.
Rachel
Irwin, who works for Building Back Together, which promotes President Joe
Biden’s policy agenda, called Friday’s abortion news Collins’ “legacy,” The Associated
Press reports.
Collins is particularly facing criticism because she has been a supporter of women’s right to an abortion and has reportedly crossed the aisle on key issues— including splitting with Republicans on former President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from several Muslim countries, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and on whether to convict Trump after his impeachment following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, according to The Associated Press.
Senator
Collins said in a statement Friday that she was given assurances from Kavanaugh
and Gorsuch that Roe v Wade was an established legal precedent and that they
would respect the measure.
“Throwing
out a precedent overnight that the country has relied upon for half a century
is not conservative,” she said, according to The Associated Press. “It is a
sudden and radical jolt to the country that will lead to political chaos,
anger, and a further loss of confidence in our government.”
Collins took
aim at Gorsuch and Kavanaugh for their refusal to stand by their commitment made
to her in private and during confirmation hearings.
“This
decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their
testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the
importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied
upon,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Kavanaugh’s
confirmation was marred by allegations of sexual assault which he denied.
Gorsuch’s nomination was confirmed with a 54-45 vote.