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- Just hours after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Rep. Doug Collins attacked the late justice’s position on abortion on Twitter.
- Collins tweeted Friday, “RIP to the more than 30 million innocent babies that have been murdered during the decades that Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended pro-abortion laws.”
- During President Trump’s impeachment hearings earlier this year, Collins was a staunch defender of the president, delivering impassioned speeches and jousting with House Democrats throughout the proceedings.
- Collins is currently embroiled in a heated special election for the US Senate seat held by appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican.
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Just hours after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Rep. Doug Collins unleashed a harsh attack on her abortion record during her 27-year tenure on the court.
As condolences and tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, including statements by President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Collins’ tweet stood out as it sharply criticized Ginsburg on one of the most polarizing issues in American society.
“RIP to the more than 30 million innocent babies that have been murdered during the decades that Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended pro-abortion laws,” Collins tweeted Friday night. “With @realDonaldTrump nominating a replacement that values human life, generations of unborn children have a chance to live.”
—Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) September 19, 2020
In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the US and granted women a constitutional right to the procedure; social conservatives have been plotting to overturn the decision for decades.
Ginsburg has famously been a strong defender of women’s reproductive rights while on the court. During her Senate confirmation hearings in 1993, Ginsburg explicitly made her opinions known on her judicial philosophy regarding the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.
"It is essential to woman's equality with man that she be the decisionmaker, that her choice be controlling," Ginsburg said to senators on the Judiciary Committee. "If you impose restraints that impede her choice, you are disadvantaging her because of her sex."
Earlier this year, Ginsburg vigorously questioned the arguments presented by supporters of a Louisiana law that forced doctors performing abortion procedures to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, according to CNN. The law was struck down 5-4; Ginsburg and the liberal bloc of justices including Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, were joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, according to The New York Times. If kept in place, the law could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in Louisiana to just one clinic.
Collins, a staunch ally of Trump, frequently jousted with House Democrats during the president's impeachment proceedings earlier this year, is currently running in a highly competitive special election for the US Senate seat in Georgia currently held by appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a fellow Republican. Loeffler was appointed to the seat by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp after Sen. Johnny Isakson retired for health reasons last year, and Collins is running for the seat over the objections of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.