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- GOP Sen. Susan Collins called the Texas abortion law "extreme, inhumane and unconstitutional."
- She said she is working with lawmakers from both parties to draft a bill codifying Roe v. Wade.
- Collins said she does not support the abortion rights bill passed by House Democrats last week.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Saturday she is working on a bipartisan bill to codify Roe v. Wade, The Associated Press reported.
Collins was speaking at an event in Maine while women across the US took to the streets to protest in favor of abortion rights. The protests came a month after Texas enacted a restrictive law that bans all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, without any exceptions for rape or incest.
Collins called the law "extreme, inhumane and unconstitutional," according to AP. She also said she is working with two Democrats and another Republican in Congress on a bill that would make Roe v. Wade the "law of the land."
Collins did not say who she is working with but that the bill would be introduced soon.
The moderate lawmaker was criticized last week by abortion rights advocates for saying she would not support a bill passed by Democrats in the House of Representatives on September 24. The bill has little chance of becoming law as it would need 10 Republican votes in the 50-50 split Senate in order to pass.
Collins said she would not support the bill because it goes too far.
"I support codifying Roe. Unfortunately, the bill … goes way beyond that. It would severely weaken the conscious exceptions that are in the current law," Collins said, according to the Los Angeles Times.