On October 6, 2018, Maine Senator Susan Collins voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and he was confirmed 50 to 48. In June 2022 Kavanaugh joined the majority in the Dobbs decision, which overruled Roe and Casey, and states that then banned abortion saw sepsis, transfusions and preventable deaths among pregnant women.
In 2025 Collins voted to confirm Mehmet Oz, whose Medicare and Medicaid agency rescinded the federal guidance on emergency abortion care, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department withheld all of Maine's federal family planning money for months. In her 2018 floor speech, Collins said Kavanaugh had assured her about respecting long-established precedent, four years before he voted to overturn Roe.
Susan Collins's Votes and Statements on Abortion and Reproductive Health
- Collins Voted to Confirm Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Who Joined the Majority That Overturned Roe v. Wade. Susan Collins voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on April 7, 2017, when he was confirmed 54 to 45, and on October 6, 2018 she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed 50 to 48. On June 24, 2022, both joined the Dobbs majority, which held that "The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled". In Texas, which banned abortion, ProPublica found that The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized after a second-trimester pregnancy loss, and that blood transfusions during emergency room visits for first-trimester miscarriage shot up by 54%. In Georgia, a state review committee found that her death was preventable after Amber Thurman could not get timely care under the state's ban.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Mehmet Oz, Whose Agency Rescinded the Emergency Abortion Care Guidance. On April 3, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Mehmet Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and he was confirmed 53 to 45. On June 3, 2025, Oz's agency announced that CMS is rescinding a Biden administration-era policy on abortion care for women in medical emergencies, the 2022 guidance telling hospitals that when an abortion is the stabilizing treatment, the physician must provide that treatment. The administration also dropped the suit and rescinded the EMTALA guidance, ProPublica reported, leaving women in states with bans without that federal protection in emergency rooms.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Department Cut Off Maine's Family Planning Money for Months. On February 13, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, and he was confirmed 52 to 48. On April 1, 2025, Kennedy's department withheld all of the Title X family planning funding of Maine Family Planning, the state's grantee, amounting to a total of $1.925 million, and HHS withheld grant payments to 144 Planned Parenthood sites in 20 states, KFF reported. A national lawsuit said Maine was one of seven states that have been completely cut off from Title X family planning grants. HHS later released the withheld funds, but some clinics elsewhere have closed because of the withheld Title X funding and are unlikely to reopen, the Michigan Advance reported.
- Collins Said Kavanaugh Would Respect Long-Established Precedent; He Voted to Overturn Roe. In her October 5, 2018 Senate floor speech announcing her support for Brett Kavanaugh, Susan Collins said of the right to abortion, "Protecting this right is important to me." She said Kavanaugh had told her that "a long-established precedent is not something to be trimmed, narrowed, discarded, or overlooked". Four years later Kavanaugh joined the five-justice majority that overruled Roe, the 49-year-old precedent Collins said he would respect.
What the Votes Susan Collins Cast Mean for Reproductive Care in Maine
- Family planning. Maine Family Planning and its subgrantees, including Planned Parenthood, serve roughly 31,000 patients across the state each year with birth control, cancer screening and testing for sexually transmitted infections, and for months in 2025 their federal Title X money was withheld. The withholding was transient: the funds were released later in 2025.
- Abortion rights. Since Dobbs overruled Roe and Casey, abortion rights in Maine depend on state law rather than on the U.S. Constitution, and women in Maine have no federal right to fall back on.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Abortion and reproductive health
What is Susan Collins's record on abortion under Trump?
Susan Collins voted in 2018 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the 2022 Dobbs majority that ended the constitutional right to abortion. In 2025 she voted to confirm Mehmet Oz, whose agency rescinded the emergency abortion guidance, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department withheld Maine's family planning grant. She had said in her 2018 floor speech that Kavanaugh assured her he respected long-established precedent.
How did Susan Collins vote on Brett Kavanaugh?
Susan Collins voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh on October 6, 2018, and he was confirmed 50 to 48. At the first 2026 Maine Senate debate, her opponent Troy Jackson asked her, "What will it take for you to admit that you were wrong?", and Collins answered that she evaluates nominees on their qualifications and experience, Maine Morning Star reported (a paraphrase of her answer). Asked about Kavanaugh at a campaign event at a fire station in Randolph, Maine in the summer of 2026, Susan Collins said, "I would vote for him again, yes," The New York Times reported in August 2026.
What happened to Title X family planning money in Maine under the officials Susan Collins confirmed?
Susan Collins voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary, and on April 1, 2025 his department withheld all of Maine Family Planning's Title X grant, a total of $1.925 million. A national lawsuit said in April 2025 that Maine had been completely cut off from Title X grants, until HHS later released the withheld money.
Last updated: 2026-10-25