Susan Collins calls for codifying Roe hours after justice she confirmed telegraphed he would gut it

On Wednesday, MSNBC reported that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has announced she supports codifying Roe v. Wade into law by an act of Congress.

"'Senator Collins supports the right to an abortion and believes that the protections in the Roe and Casey decisions should be passed into law. She has had some conversations with her colleagues about this and is open to further discussions," a Collins spokesperson told MSNBC.

Reporter Sahil Kapur noted that "the remarks came hours after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a major case that experts believe could lead to the undoing of the landmark 1973 ruling and its subsequent precedents that protect a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy."

READ MORE: Susan Collins says she didn't hear Brett Kavanaugh's SCOTUS abortion comments

Notably, Collins has already said she opposes the Women's Health Protection Act, a bill passed by the House in September to do just that. She has suggested that it could interfere with existing conscience laws allowing health care workers who morally object to abortion are not required to participate in it.

Collins previously expressed confidence that Justice Brett Kavanaugh would respect precedent on abortion rights as a basis for voting to confirm him amid a bitter controversy over his extreme judicial record and allegations of sexual assault. She did not vote to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett last year.

Both justices' lines of questioning at oral argument suggested they are comfortable with overturning Roe entirely.