Why Mike Collins’ position on abortion hangs on the letter ‘S’

Did U.S. Rep. Mike Collins just change his position on abortion?

It sure seemed that way during Tuesday night’s Senate debate as he and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff squared off and each worked to paint the other as extreme on the issue.

Pointing at Collins, Ossoff said, “This is a congressman who supports a total ban on abortion with no exceptions, even if the mother will die for lack of healthcare. And I bet he’ll try to change his position right now.”

Collins shot back that he has been “pro life all my life, forever” and that he has supported the Georgia law that bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, with several exceptions.

“I believe that the Georgia Legislature got it right, that the governor and Legislature allowed for three exceptions, with the heinous rapes, incest or life of mother,” Collins said. The Georgia law also allows for abortion after six weeks in cases of a fatal fetal abnormality.

But Ossoff accused Collins of moderating his position from a 2022 debate, suggesting that viewers “roll the tape” on Collins’ remarks then to see for themselves. Collins agreed.

“They need to roll that tape back because it said ‘without exception.’ That means without exception, my entire life I have been pro life,” Collins said.

But being “pro life without exception” is not the same as being “pro life, without exceptions.” And that’s how Collins described his position in that 2022 GOP runoff debate against rival Vernon Jones.

At that time, Collins and Jones were in an argument over who had the most conservative position on abortion. Jones accused Collins of supporting exceptions to abortion laws for abortion, rape and incest.

“Mike wants exceptions. I do not,” Jones said. “If Mike wants to say he’s pro life, he’s not. I’m pro life all the way.”

But Collins rebutted. “I have always stated, always been, always will be 100% pro life, period. No exceptions. Vernon Jones is a con man.”

Did Collins just misspeak in 2022 when he said “no exceptions” instead of “without exception?” Not likely, since he also completed a candidate questionnaire for the Georgia Life Alliance Committee in 2022 with the same “no exceptions” position.

Asked in the document whether he believed abortion should be illegal, Collins checked “yes.” Asked to indicate which exceptions should be allowed, including cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother, Collins chose none of them.

According to the committee, Collins did not fill out a questionnaire at all this year, and he is one of the few statewide candidates not to do so. “But GLAC’s commitment to protecting unborn children without exception has not changed,” said Elizabeth Edmonds, the group’s executive director.

Collins defeated Jones in the 2022 GOP runoff, and once in Congress, he went on to co-sponsor a series of anti-abortion measures. In 2025, he co-sponsored the “Life at Conception Act.” The bill did not apply directly to abortion but would have provided equal protection under the 14th Amendment “for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.”

Critics of the bill said it would effectively end all abortions and access to in vitro fertilization, since it declared that conception begins at fertilization and would give embryos the same legal protections as people.

Does a single “s” on a debate stage really make a difference? A girl who has been raped by her father could tell you the incest exception to Georgia’s abortion ban makes a difference. So could the pregnant woman who is forced to choose between her own life and the life of her baby, since that exception is covered by the current Georgia law, too.

Tragically, these things happen in life, even though we’d like to believe they don’t. So being “pro life, no exceptions,” which was Collins position four years ago, and “pro life, no exception,” which he says he is today, could literally be a matter of life and death for women in those circumstances.

But it’s hard to say what difference Collins’ new answer will make politically. Collins’ far-right position on abortion going into the Senate race was one of several reasons Gov. Brian Kemp recruited Derek Dooley to run for Senate, believing that Collins was not likely to win a statewide general election.

It’s also the reason that President Donald Trump reportedly had misgivings about endorsing Collins in the first place, although he eventually did.

Cole Muzio, president of Frontline Policy Action, said the distinction between Collins’ position on abortion in 2022 and what he said on the debate stage Tuesday won’t change how his conservative group sees the Republican.

“Mike has always been with us when we needed him,” Muzio said. “He’s been a strong ally of the life movement. That’s a big reason why he’s the nominee.”

Plus, Muzio added, Collins is closer to where Georgians are on the abortion issue than Ossoff, who has called for the repeal of Georgia’s abortion ban.