Bob Casey Says “I’m a Pro-Life Democrat,” But Votes With Pro-Abortion Planned Parenthood 75% of The Time

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jul 2, 2018   |   5:22PM   |   Washington, DC

The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court confirmation battle has the press honing in on several Senators who have mixed records on the abortion issue.

One is U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. A Democrat, Casey calls himself pro-life but has cast more pro-abortion votes than pro-life in the past several years.

Last week, Casey said he almost certainly will oppose any of President Donald Trump’s nominees for the high court – a justice who could be the deciding vote in overturning Roe v. Wade. Casey also voted against Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation in 2017.

Trump has not named anyone to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy yet, but he is expected to announce his decision July 9. The president promised to choose a nominee from a list of 25 conservative leaders, most of whom already are judges on federal circuit courts and state supreme courts. Pro-life advocates and other conservatives have praised Trump for the possible nominees on his list.

Politico put Casey’s situation into perspective Monday, writing:

Sen. Bob Casey calls himself a pro-life Democrat. But his voting record paints a different picture.

After a decade in the Senate, Casey has become an increasingly reliable vote in support of abortion rights — scoring as high as 100 percent on NARAL Pro-Choice America’s vote tally in 2016 and 2017. Anti-abortion groups insist he’s no champion of their cause — and view him as unlikely to support President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, whose confirmation will be a proxy battle on the future of Roe v. Wade.

All of which may complicate Casey’s reelection battle, forcing him to defend his voting record in heavily Catholic Pennsylvania as he attempts to hold off a challenge from GOP Rep. Lou Barletta.

Casey defended his voting record in an interview with Politico.

“I think it’s clear to most people that the description of pro-life Democrat is accurate. I’ve been very consistent,” he said. “What it means is I try to support policies that help women and children both before and after birth. Part of that is making sure you are honest about differences but also at the same time trying to focus on ways to reduce both the number of abortions and the number of unwanted pregnancies, and I think my record reflects that.”

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He has just a 20-percent pro-life voting record for the current session from the National Right to Life Committee. In contrast, Planned Parenthood gave Casey a 75 percent on its voting scorecard since 2011, and the radical pro-abortion group NARAL, which attacks groups that support pregnant and parenting moms, gave him a 100 percent rating in 2016 and 2017.

Casey responded: “Some groups have an overwhelming preference for one party. I think that’s pretty clear. There are Republican groups and Democratic groups. No matter what one side or another does or what your voting record is, they’re going to apply a label to you.”

He asserted that he is pro-life because he regularly supports government programs that help pregnant women.

“We can debate this issue all day, or we can focus on areas of common ground — it’s as simple as three words: help pregnant women,” Casey said. “If both sides are doing that, not only would the number of unwanted pregnancies go down, but you’re more likely to have women with healthy pregnancies.”

But to Casey, helping women includes voting to give half a billion tax dollars to the nation’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood. In 2017, he bizarrely claimed that he supports Planned Parenthood, which aborts 320,000 unborn babies a year, because it “reduces abortions.”

Just a little research on Casey’s part would have shown just the opposite. Planned Parenthood’s priority is abortions. It throws pizza parties to reward employees that exceed their abortion quotas, and in 2013, it gave one of its Colorado clinics an award for “for exceeding abortion visits.” Under pro-abortion President Barack Obama, Planned Parenthood’s own annual reports showed that its non-abortion services dropped, while its abortion numbers remained steady and its taxpayer funding increased.

However, Casey opposed a bill allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion chain in America. He also has received campaign donations from the abortion group.

The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Barletta, his challenger, in June.