Maine has a long history of protecting individual rights and keeping personal, family decisions out of the political sphere: one of the first three states to enact marriage equality through popular vote, in 2012; death with dignity, in 2019, and the right to a legal abortion affirmed since 1979, a protection that was updated just this year to extend that right up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Yet Sen. Susan Collins, a presumed pro-choice Republican, fell into line with the rest of the Republican Party in 2018 when she accepted Brett Kavanaugh’s word that Roe v. Wade was “settled law.” And how does that word look today? As hollow as the person who offered it to her.

Now, Sen. Collins indicates she will support codifying abortion rights.

She should stand up and co-sponsor such legislation in Congress to ensure that women will continue to have control over their own lives, without political interference, which has no place in personal medical and family decisions. Collins’ support put Associate Justice Kavanaugh on the court, and women for generations to come will be paying the price for that support unless she acts.

Margaret Nareff
South Portland