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Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a key vote on President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, said Sunday she would oppose any nominee she believed would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. The White House is focusing on five to seven potential candidates to fill the vacancy of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a swing vote on the court. The Maine senator said she would only back a judge who would show respect for settled law such as the 45-year-old Roe decision, which has long been anathema to conservatives. (Yen and Thomas, 7/2)

“Roe v. Wade is a constitutional right that is well-established,” Collins said on “State of the Union” on CNN. “And no less an authority than Chief Justice [John] Roberts said that repeatedly at his confirmation hearing.“ Trump last week said he wouldn’t ask potential Supreme Court nominees about abortion rights — a departure from his stance on the campaign trail, when he said he would nominate to the Supreme Court only people who oppose abortion. (Kullgren, 7/1)

Collins is among small group of U.S. senators whose support is seen as crucial to securing the confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice following the retirement announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. The Maine senator has said previously that she wouldn’t support someone who pledges to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. It’s settled law, and justices must respect legal precedent, she said. (Niquette and Condon, 7/1)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is signaling that President Trump should avoid picking a Supreme Court nominee that is openly pushing to overturn Roe v. Wade, instead encouraging him to choose a "centrist." "All of that stuff is red flags for all Americans. And I think he needs to get a jurist basically looking at the law. The Roe v. Wade has been the law for 40-some years," Manchin told a West Virginia radio station on Friday when asked if he wanted a jurist who would overturn the 1973 Supreme Court case that established the right to an abortion. (Carney, 6/29)

Sen. Bob Casey calls himself a pro-life Democrat. But his voting record paints a different picture. After a decade in the Senate, Casey has become an increasingly reliable vote in support of abortion rights — scoring as high as 100 percent on NARAL Pro-Choice America’s vote tally in 2016 and 2017. Anti-abortion groups insist he’s no champion of their cause — and view him as unlikely to support President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, whose confirmation will be a proxy battle on the future of Roe v. Wade. (Haberkorn, 7/2)

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro drew rounds of fierce applause Friday as she wagged her pink rectangular glasses at the people gathered inside a New Haven Planned Parenthood and warned that the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy poses a clear threat to women’s reproductive rights. DeLauro’s visit to New Haven – in which she acted as part cheerleader and part prognosticator – came just two days after Kennedy announced his retirement, a move that gives President Donald Trump a pivotal new pick and the opportunity to choose a justice who will vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion. (Radelat, Silber and Phaneuf, 6/29)

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he planned to interview one or two candidates this weekend at his Bedminster, N.J., resort to fill Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat, and plans to announce his final pick on July 9. “I’ve got it narrowed to about five,” he said, including two women. The president also said he wouldn’t specifically ask candidates about Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling making abortion legal. However, a potential nominee’s approach to the issue has been a factor in creating Mr. Trump’s list of 25 conservative candidates. (Radnofsky and Nicholas, 6/29)

As partisans on both sides of the abortion divide contemplate a Supreme Court with two Trump appointees, one thing is certain: America even without legal abortion would be very different from America before abortion was legal. The moment Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his retirement, speculation swirled that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, would be overturned. Most legal experts say that day is years away, if it arrives at all. A more likely scenario, they predict, is that a rightward-shifting court would uphold efforts to restrict abortion, which would encourage some states to further limit access. (Belluck and Hoffman, 7/1)