Lisa Margulies is Maine spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes.

Sen. Susan Collins has claimed that protecting the right to abortion “is important to me,” but she has spent her career in the U.S. Senate confirming judges who have gutted abortion access across the country. Sen. Collins voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court despite widespread concern about his nomination. Kavanaugh was essential in the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion care and causing an abortion access crisis across the country. 

Now, despite the chaos and devastation resulting from her votes, Sen. Collins continues to confirm anti-abortion judges to courts throughout the country. She wants Mainers to believe she is “concerned” about our rights to abortion and reproductive healthcare — even going as far as to suggest she’d been misled by Kavanaugh. If that were true, why has she continued to confirm nominees who have long, public records of hostility to reproductive freedom, including abortion?

During President Trump’s second term alone, Sen. Collins has voted to confirm 94% of judges nominated by a president who repeatedly promised to appoint anti-abortion justices. This month she confirmed three more anti-abortion judges to lifetime appointments.

Among other judges confirmed by Collins is Joshua Dunlap to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Maine and other states. Dunlap’s record of opposition to reproductive freedom, marriage equality, economic justice and separation of church and state spurred more than 20 Maine organizations to urge Sen. Collins to reject his confirmation. Instead, Sen.  Collins fell in line with President Trump and his anti-abortion agenda and confirmed Dunlap. 

Sen. Collins’ judicial confirmation votes over the course of three decades in Congress have been critical to advancing the agenda of people opposed to abortion, which, it is important to remember, is health care that is safe and legal in Maine. Anti-abortion judges on courts across the country have aided the dismantling of our rights and access to reproductive healthcare nationwide.

Take the recent  Louisiana court case, where a panel of three judges — all of whom Sen. Collins voted for — ruled in favor of politically motivated attacks against mifepristone, a safe and effective drug used in medication abortion and miscarriage care for over two decades by more than 7.5 million people.

Thanks to Collins’ confirmation votes, these judges caused chaos and confusion across the country, including here in Maine. Providers scrambled to understand the fallout of the ruling, upend current practice and deliver care within new legal boundaries. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has paused that ruling for now, access to care remains vulnerable to similar attacks down the line. This case should never have gotten as far as it did. Patients should never be caught in a political tug-of-war to access healthcare they need and deserve.

The vast majority of Mainers and Americans believe abortion should be legal, but politicians like Sen. Collins continue to push through the confirmations of anti-abortion judges. These judges are not bound by term limits or public sentiment — and judges cannot be voted out. 

Mainers care deeply about reproductive freedom, and we don’t want politicians or judges involved in our personal medical decisions. Has Sen. Collins shown she represents the will of the people in Maine when it comes to our reproductive rights and access to care? Considering her judicial confirmation record, the answer is a resounding “No.” Her long history of support for  court nominees who advance a political agenda that disregards sexual and reproductive health and rights is proof she cannot be trusted to protect Mainers from President Trump’s anti-abortion agenda.

Sen.  Collins tells us again and again she is deeply “concerned.” But her actions speak louder than her words. Fortunately, Maine voters have the opportunity in November to hold her accountable and to elect a senator committed to protecting our reproductive rights including the right to abortion — because protecting these rights are important to Mainers.