Planned Parenthood Supports Democrat Graham Platner over Senator Susan Collins in Maine

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the largest abortion rights organization in the U.S., has officially endorsed Graham Platner, a Democrat, for the Senate in Maine. This decision marks a departure from supporting Senator Susan Collins, a Republican known for her abortion rights stance.

The Maine affiliate of Planned Parenthood had commended Senator Collins in May 2025 for her longstanding support of the organization and her defense against federal funding cuts. However, at an event in Portland, the national president Alexis McGill Johnson expressed dissatisfaction with Collins’s recent actions. She remarked that Collins has not made the necessary decisions when advocating for abortion rights, calling her a “fair-weather feminist.” McGill Johnson highlighted Collins’s shifting stance on reproductive freedom depending on political convenience.

The endorsement of Platner comes despite some concerns about his behavior towards women. Many Democrats remain upset with Collins for confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018. Kavanaugh later contributed to the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending a constitutional right to abortion that had existed for nearly fifty years.

Democratic strategist Angela Kuefler noted that Platner’s campaign is leveraging the abortion rights issue to challenge Collins’s moderate image and to strengthen support among female voters, who form the majority in Maine’s electorate.