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Report: GOP Sen. Susan Collins says she will not support Democrats' abortion-rights bill

WASHINGTON — A Democratic bill to protect abortion rights nationwide will not receive support from Republican abortion rights advocate, Sen. Susan Collins.

The senator from Maine said Tuesday she opposes the bill to prohibit states from interfering in abortion based on fetal viability, The Los Angeles Times first reported. The measure is a direct response to the Texas "fetal heartbeat" bill that took effect earlier this month after the Supreme Court declined to block its enforcement.

“I support codifying Roe. Unfortunately the bill … goes way beyond that. It would severely weaken the conscious exceptions that are in the current law,” Collins said, according to the Times.

The bill is expected to be approved Friday in the House, the Times reported. Despite 48 cosponsors in the Senate, Democrats, led by bill author Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are considering whether to bring it to a vote.

The bill would “codify” Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

But Collins said it would weaken the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits the government from burdening the exercise of religion.

"This ‘carve out’ would be unprecedented, and I do not believe it is necessary to codify Roe,” she told the paper.

Collins said she is discussing a potential bill that "truly would codify Roe," the Times reported.

Reach out to Chelsey Cox on Twitter at @therealco.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abortion: GOP Sen. Susan Collins will not support Democrats' bill