BANGOR, Maine — A message left in chalk outside Sen. Susan Collins' home urged her to support the Democratic effort to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion nationwide.
Bangor police responded to the Republican senator's home in Bangor Saturday evening after a neighbor noticed the message on the sidewalk outside. A police spokesperson said no crime was committed because the message was not threatening. A public works crew washed it away.
The message said “Mainers Want WHPA” in reference to the Women’s Health Protection Act. It also said, “Clean up your mess.”
More messages were printed in chalk outside the home on Tuesday, but police weren't asked to respond, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Collins has come under fire for voting to confirm Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, who were part of the majority in a leaked draft opinion that suggests the court could be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Collins, who said the draft ruling was “completely inconsistent” with what Gorsuch and Kavanaugh told her in meetings, thanked police and public works for responding to the weekend incident.
She doesn't support the Women’s Health Protection Act. She supports a separate effort to codify the Roe v. Wade ruling that she and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski are promoting.
Collins has been advised by Capitol Police to notify the local police department when there is activity directed at her around her home because the senator periodically receives “threatening letters and phone calls,” her office said in a statement.
A letter that claimed to contain ricin led to a full biohazard response by first responders at her home in 2018.
A woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison for mailing a white powder to Collins and claiming it was anthrax in a separate incident. That letter was intercepted before it reached her home.