Collins Opposes Senate Bill To Codify Abortion Rights

The Washington Post reports:

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), one of two prominent Republican senators who support abortion rights, said Thursday that she does not support a Democratic measure that would create statutory right to the procedure, arguing that the legislation does not provide sufficient protection to antiabortion health providers.

The statement from Collins comes as the Senate is preparing to vote next week on the legislation, known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, and as the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a woman’s right to an abortion.

“It supersedes all other federal and state laws, including the conscience protections that are in the Affordable Care Act,” Collins told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.

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Blumenthal pushes back on Collins. “There is nothing in this measure that detracts in any way from existing protections based on conscience or religion. It doesn’t mandate that a hospital or a doctor or any other provider do anything that is against religious principles”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 5, 2022