Collins, Murkowski, Manchin, and Sinema weigh in on SCOTUS leak


Swing-vote Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Tuesday expressed their views on the draft Supreme Court opinion that was leaked Monday night and would overturn Roe v. Wade.
"Overturning Roe v. Wade endangers the health and wellbeing of women in Arizona and across America," Sinema wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
Despite her opposition to the court's decision, Sinema said she was unwilling to kill the Senate filibuster to force through legislation codifying abortion rights into federal law, The Hill reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Manchin did not directly criticize the draft ruling, but he did echo Sinema by voicing support for the filibuster. Both Manchin and Sinema noted that the filibuster has been used in the past to protect "women's rights."
Sens. Collins and Murkowski are both pro-choice, and both expressed disappointment with the leaked opinion. Murkowski said the idea of a decision to overturn Roe "rocks my confidence in the court," while Collins said the draft ruling was "completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office." Both justices reportedly indicated to Collins that they considered Roe to be settled law.
Neither GOP senator, however, is likely to vote to weaken the filibuster while Democrats are in the majority.
Even if Democrats could remove the filibuster, they'd still be two votes short on codifying abortion access. Collins, Murkowski, Manchin, and Bob Casey (D-Penn.) all oppose the Democrats' Women's Health Protection Act.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Rust: Alec Baldwin's 'ghoulish' western haunted by real-life death
Talking Point The film's only saving grace is the late Halyna Hutchins's 'gorgeous' cinematography
-
Director Joel Souza fears film industry hasn't learned lessons from death of Halyna Hutchins
Feature Director Joel Souza fears film industry hasn't learned lessons from death of Halyna Hutchins
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported