Re: “Our View: Justice Kavanaugh reveals radical view of abortion limits” (Dec. 2):

I’m not surprised that Brett Kavanaugh went back on his promise to consider Roe v. Wade “settled law.”

Sen. Susan Collins voted for his confirmation because she believed his hype. At his confirmation hearings, he showed he knows how to spin a narrative. Now, because of his personal religious ideology, he and the rest of the conservative Supreme Court of the United States control the fate of a woman’s equal protection under the Constitution.

Women will be forced to bear children they may be unable or unwilling to raise. On average, a woman who plans on having two children spends about three decades of her reproductive life avoiding pregnancy, and about half of all pregnancies are unintended. So losing Roe will significantly affect a woman’s ability to lead a life of her choice.

Sen. Collins is promising that she will support legislation that will codify Roe into law. She has repeated for 22 years that she supports Roe. Why has she not fought to codify Roe before now? Instead, she voted for 95 percent of Donald Trump’s anti-abortion judicial nominees, including Kavanaugh.

But now, in light of what is happening in the Supreme Court, she has a clear responsibility for getting us out of this mess. And it might help if the Press Herald Editorial Board held her to account. They fell far short of calling Sen. Collins out on the long-term duplicity of her actions versus her words.

Jo Trafford
Portland