'Own the suffering women': Patty Murray renews attack on Susan Collins over Roe V. Wade

Wednesday marked four years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), ending 50 years of a federal Constitutional right to an abortion. The anniversary of the Dobbs decision brought fresh criticism of those who aided the decision, with Democratic Senator Patty Murray blaming every Republican, including Maine Senator Susan Collins, who voted for the confirmation of one of the judges who helped overturn the landmark decision.

In 2018, Collins cast the deciding vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who initially said he felt Roe v. Wade was "settled law," but later voted with the majority to overturn it. "Every single Republican in the Senate helped enable this horrifying reality," Murray said in her opening remarks at a Spotlight Forum on Republicans' Attacks on Reproductive Healthcare. "You don't get to act surprised the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade when you voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. You are going to own the suffering and pain you've inflicted on the women in this country," Murray added. 

Collins took the Senate floor following a contentious confirmation hearing and 48–48 deadlock and spoke for 43 minutes about nominee Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s second appointee to the high court, in support of his confirmation, as per News Center Maine. Years later,  Kavanaugh joined the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to rule 6-3 to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and overturned the federal constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade in a separate vote. 

Thus, on the fourth anniversary of the overturning decision, Democrats renewed attacks on Collins, who is set to go up against Graham Platner in a closely watched midterm battle in November. Collins recently defended her decision to back Kavanaugh, saying Roe v. Wade would have been overturned with or without him. In a newly aired Fox News interview, Collins said she "disagreed with the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but the fact is, whether Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed or not, Roe v. Wade would have been overturned, given the 6-3 vote." However, Collins misstated that the vote to overturn Roe was 5-4, with Kavanaugh joining the majority. 

Her remarks handed another chance to her Democratic challenger to launch an attack. "Susan Collins is lying through her teeth," Platner said in a statement, claiming it was clear that Kavanaugh was going to overturn Roe v. Wade. he claimed it was clear that Kavanaugh was going to overturn Roe. "Everyone knew that Brett Kavanaugh would overturn Roe. She can lie and say she was misled. She can claim she's disappointed. But the reality is, she knew exactly why Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh—and she voted to confirm him anyway," Platner said.

Furthermore, the anniversary brought out a group of protestors outside Senator Susan Collins's Portland office, too, who blamed Collins for the loss of a Constitutional Right that helped millions of women across America for 50 years.