Susan Collins Lies About Her Anti-Abortion Record in First Maine U.S. Senate Debate - Reproductive Freedom for All®

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Reproductive Freedom for All®

Donate

Menu

Close

Press Release

Susan Collins Lies About Her Anti-Abortion Record in First Maine U.S. Senate Debate

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Contact: [email protected]

Susan Collins Lies About Her Anti-Abortion Record in First Maine U.S. Senate Debate

Washington, DC — In tonight’s first U.S. Senate debate between Troy Jackson and Susan Collins, Collins was forced to defend her deeply unpopular anti-abortion record before Mainers.

When pressed by Jackson on whether she regretted her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Collins doubled down and refused to apologize. Collins then claimed that she didn’t think Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade, despite clear evidence that Kavanaugh was an anti-abortion extremist.

Watch the exchange HERE. 

Later in the debate, Collins claimed to support access to mifepristone, days after voting to advance a Surgeon General nominee who supports unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion.

Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:

“Susan Collins lied to Maine voters again tonight — she knows her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court paved the way for the fall of Roe. Collins has shown us she will sell out Mainers to appease Donald Trump when it really matters. In less than a month, Maine voters have the power to hold Collins accountable and elect Troy Jackson to the U.S. Senate.”

With Maine’s Senate race in the national spotlight, Collins faces a reckoning over her record of enabling the anti-abortion agenda in Washington. Collins reliably sides with the most extreme members of the Republican Party during pivotal moments and votes:

  • Since 2017: Collins has supported more than five dozen Trump-appointed judges with known anti-abortion records and voted to confirm 95% of President Trump’s judicial nominees.
  • 2018: Collins told Maine voters she believed Kavanaugh would respect Roe as settled precedent, and cast the deciding vote to confirm him. He later joined the majority that overturned Roe.
  • 2022: Collins voted twice against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified federal protections for abortion access.
  • 2025: Collins voted to advance Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” which contained nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts and excluded an extension of ACA subsidies.
  • 2026: Collins has yet to say whether she will support Trump’s FDA nominee Heidi Overton, who refused to provide clear answers about medication abortion and contraception during her confirmation hearing.

This comes on the eight-year anniversary of Collins’ decisive vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which led to the fall of Roe v. Wade. Jackson’s record of advancing reproductive freedom stands in stark contrast to Collins’ record. As Senate president, Jackson helped expand abortion access, require insurance plans to cover contraception without out-of-pocket costs, and establish Maine’s shield law protecting reproductive health patients and providers from out-of-state interference.

###

For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.