June 29, 2018

Pro-Choicers Are Sending Coat Hangers to Sen. Susan Collins

The Maine Republican reportedly won’t weigh Supreme Court nominees’ position on Roe v. Wade.

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With President Donald Trump poised to nominate a new Supreme Court justice in the wake of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, all eyes are on senators such as Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, who is considered a critical vote in the confirmation process. Today, the moderate Republican came under fire after an article in Maine’s Portland Press Herald reported that she “won’t factor a nominee’s support for the landmark abortion-rights ruling of Roe v. Wade into her confirmation decision.” Collins’ spokeswoman Annie Clark told the paper that “Senator Collins does not apply ideological litmus tests to nominees.” 

Some have interpreted Collins’ noncommittal stance as a potential threat to Roe v. Wade, which experts believe a more conservative Supreme Court lineup could overturn. In response, Twitter users have posted photos showing they’re sending metal coat hangers—a symbol of the pro-choice movement that evokes the dangers of illegal abortions—to Collins’ offices in Washington, DC, and Maine. More have started using the hashtag #HangersForCollins.

Some of their tweets:

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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