In the same way that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins ignored the best evidence about the effects of tax cuts when she signed on to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, she ignored the warnings about Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

With Kavanaugh’s recent vote regarding reproductive freedoms in Louisiana, we can see clearly that his pledge that Roe v. Wade is “settled law” may be meaningless.

Although hundreds of Mainers visited her offices, and called and emailed their deeply held concerns about Kavanaugh, Collins not only voted to confirm him to a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, but she thought it appropriate to give a 40-minute, full-throated lecture on her justification for that vote. She kicked sand in the face of all the survivors of sexual assault who came forward, cruelly dismissing them as she did Kavanaugh’s accuser. A quiet “yes” vote would have yielded the same result and would have been less cruel.

Given the opportunity, it’s likely that Kavanaugh would vote to further undermine women’s reproductive health choices, resulting in the erosion of women’s health and of the well-being of their families.

We’ll have Collins to thank.

Mary Ann Larson
Portland