Susan Collins.Photo: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Police in Bangor, Maine, responded Saturday to a call about a message written in chalk on a sidewalk near the home of Sen.Susan Collins.
“Susie, please, Mainers want WHPA,” the message read,according toBangor Daily News, “vote yes, clean up your mess.”
“WHPA” refers to theWomen’s Health Protection Act, which would legalize abortions nationwide. The Senate is set to vote on the bill for the second time Wednesday, after a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicated that they intend to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that guaranteed the right to abortion.
“WHPA” which would create a national law banning restrictions on abortion. Collins, a Republican who has said she supports abortion rights,voted against the billin February and said last week that she intends to do so again on Wednesday.
“It supersedes all other federal and state laws, including the conscience protections that are in the Affordable Care Act,” Collins said of her reasonings for voting against bill to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. “It doesn’t protect the right of a Catholic hospital to not perform abortions. That right has been enshrined in law for a long time.”
Lawmakers in favor of abortion rights want the WHPA to pass in the wake of aleaked draft opinionfrom JusticeSamuel Alitothat indicates the Supreme Court will overturnRoe vs. Wade.
Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, have introduced a separate bill, the “Reproductive Choice Act,” to codifyRoe v. Wadeinto law.
A police spokesman toldBangor Daily Newsthe message was “not overtly threatening.” By Monday, the message, written in red and white chalk, was gone.
“We are grateful to the Bangor police officers and the City public works employee who responded to the defacement of public property in front of our home,” Collins said, according to the paper.
“Obviously, we won’t know each Justice’s decision and reasoning until the Supreme Court officially announces its opinion in this case.”
source: people.com
