Susan Collins: Will not support SCOTUS's choice to oppose abortion rights



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"I would not support a candidate who expressed hostility to Roe v. Wade because it would mean to me that their judicial philosophy did not include respect for established decisions, established law" Collins said on CNN's State of the Union. "

The senator from Maine said when she met with President Donald Trump to discuss the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Anthony Kennedy, she encouraged Trump to" expand his list. "

Collins said that she was not comfortable with everyone on Trump's list of conservative names and stressed her preferences in their meeting.

"The President was really asking for my views on the kind of candidate I was looking for. "" I stressed that I wanted a candidate who would respect the precedents, a fundamental tenet of our judicial system. "

Trump told CNN at the beginning of his campaign that he would use Roe as a litmus test for Supreme Court choices, and Vice President Mike Pence also said during the campaign that they would see the abortion ruling in "Ashes". "

Nevertheless, Collins said that Trump had told him it would not ask a candidate how he would vote on Roe. She went on to say that she did not believe that Judge Neil Gorsuch, a conservative judge whom she had voted to confirm last year, would vote to overthrow Roe v. Wade no more.

"I really do not," she says of Gorsuch joining an opinion that overthrew Roe. "I had a very long talk with Judge Gorsuch in my office and he pointed out that he was co-author of a comprehensive book on the precedents."

In addition to his belief in Gorsuch's position, Collins also noted that Chief Justice John Roberts had already said that Roe c. Wade had been established.

"I want a judge who applies the law to the facts of the case with fidelity to the Constitution," Collins said. "Roe v. Wade is a constitutional right that is well-established, and no less than an authority that Chief Justice Roberts has repeatedly stated in his confirmation hearing."

In a separate interview on the same program, Tammy Duckworth of Democratic Illinois said she would advise her colleagues, including Collins and key Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska , not to "just believe that what someone is saying to you in a conversation while trying to get your vote is what will happen when they are in the Supreme Court."

"The Judge Gorsuch told him that he would respect the precedents, yet he voted against a precedent this week in the Janus case, "Duckworth said, referring to a union case decided on Wednesday.

CNN & # 39; s Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.

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