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Public disputes concerning abortion law and policy, including medication abortion, gestational limits, clinic access, funding, and the regulation of abortion drugs.
Counts show individual statements. They do not assign an overall position.
5 statements on this page. Dates: October 5, 2018 to September 20, 2026
5 matching statements. Dates: October 5, 2018 to September 20, 2026
5 published statements. Dates: October 5, 2018 to September 20, 2026
3 published statements. Dates: October 5, 2018 to September 20, 2026
3 statements on this page. Dates: October 5, 2018 to September 20, 2026
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Maine and Republican candidate for reelection, in a CNN interview
Response to this claim
Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh remains justified despite his vote to overturn Roe and Casey in Dobbs.
“I make the decisions based on the qualifications of the individual. And that is what I did with Brett Kavanaugh.”
CNN’s transcript preserves Collins’s on-the-trail interview response. She said Kavanaugh was qualified while saying she did not like his Dobbs decision. The exchange documents her current characterization of her confirmation vote; it does not establish any private assurance by Kavanaugh.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)The reference point is Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh and whether it remains justified after Dobbs. Collins answers a direct question about whether the vote was a mistake by restating the basis for it: his qualifications. That defends the vote, so we used Defended or excused. Mixed or conditional is close because she says she disliked his Dobbs decision, but she does not let that change her view of the vote. The quote is from CNN's transcript.
Role at the time: U.S. senator speaking to reporters
Response to this claim
Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh remains justified despite his vote to overturn Roe and Casey in Dobbs.
“I do not regret that (confirmation) vote”
Collins's remarks to reporters after a banking conference in Portland, in which she defends her 2018 confirmation vote while disagreeing with Kavanaugh's Dobbs vote. The article also records campaign criticism. It names Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson among the Dobbs dissenters, but the Court's opinion lists Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Directly defends the conduct under scrutiny, her 2018 confirmation vote, while expressing disagreement with the later Dobbs decision.
Role at the time: U.S. senator, in her October 5, 2018 floor speech
Statement summary
Collins argues that Kavanaugh's approach to precedent would protect established rulings from being eroded indirectly.
“his views on honoring precedent would preclude attempts to do by stealth that which one has committed not to do overtly.”
Collins explains why Kavanaugh's statements about precedent, Roe, and Casey informed her confirmation vote.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)The reference point is Collins's intended confirmation vote. She justifies her announced vote through Kavanaugh's stated approach to precedent.
1 published statement. Dates: June 10, 2026
1 statement on this page. Dates: June 10, 2026
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Maine
Statement summary
Susan Collins, asked about Graham Platner's accusation that she lied to Mainers about protecting abortion rights because of her Kavanaugh vote, said it was obviously not true and that the people of Maine know her well.
“Well, that's obviously not true. The people of Maine know me well and I know them well.”
Nineteen-second recording published June 10, 2026. The description identifies Platner and Kavanaugh where automated captions misrender their names.
The case asks whether Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh was justified after Dobbs. Asked about Graham Platner's primary-night accusation that she lied to Mainers about protecting abortion rights, Collins said it was obviously not true. This is a flat denial of the dishonesty charge attached to the vote, so Denied fits. Defended or excused is the closest competing label; it loses because in this answer she does not argue that the vote itself was justified.
1 published statement. Dates: June 22, 2026
1 statement on this page. Dates: June 22, 2026
Role at the time: U.S. senator from Maine and Republican candidate for reelection, in a Fox News interview
Response to this claim
Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh remains justified despite his vote to overturn Roe and Casey in Dobbs.
“Whether Justice Kavanaugh were confirmed or not, Roe v. Wade would have been overturned, given the 6-3 vote”
Bangor Daily News report on Collins's June 22, 2026 Fox News interview, in which she said Roe would have been overturned with or without Kavanaugh. The report notes that the Dobbs vote to overturn Roe was 5-4 and quotes her campaign's response.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)The reference point is Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh and whether it remains justified after Dobbs. Here Collins acknowledges the concern by saying she disagreed with Dobbs, then argues her vote made no difference to the outcome. That downplays the consequences of the vote, so we used Minimized. Defended or excused is close, but in this answer she does not argue the vote was right; she argues it was not decisive. The quote is from the Bangor Daily News report, and we checked it against a broadcast clip of the interview.
