WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Casey, an outlier in his party for favoring some abortion restrictions, said he will vote in favor of legislation to protect a woman’s access to abortion — a largely symbolic vote just over a week after a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion revealed the body is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Pennsylvania Democrat said that he will be an “aye” on Wednesday’s upper-chamber vote to codify Roe because he disagrees with the Mississippi law at issue in the high court case that would ban abortion at 15 weeks as well as speculation about possible federal legislation that could follow.
“In the nearly three months since the Senate last voted on the Women’s Health Protection Act, the circumstances around the entire debate on abortion have changed. In light of the leaked Supreme Court decision draft overturning Roe v. Wade, and subsequent reports that Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate will introduce legislation to enact a nationwide six-week ban, the real question of the moment is: do you support a categorical ban on abortion? During my time in public office, I have never voted for — nor do I support — such a ban,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
In February, Mr. Casey voted in favor of the bill when, as expected, it failed to advance. The effort Wednesday is likely doomed again in the evenly split Senate, as Democrats will not be able to pick up enough votes to meet the 60-vote threshold and still do not have enough support to break the filibuster.
The senator's voting history does not fit a strict mold, and in fact, has a 67% approval rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
While he supported codifying abortion access in recent months, he has in the past voted to ban the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy and supported the prohibition of federally subsidized medical coverage for the procedure.
The draft Supreme Court opinion, published by Politico on May 2, indicates that the conservative court will overturn the 1973 landmark Roe decision that guaranteed federal constitutional rights to abortion access, and similarly overturn the subsequent 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision that upheld Roe but gave states room to restrict abortion based on fetal viability, or 24 weeks.
Mr. Casey's father, a former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania known for his anti-abortion leadership in the party, was a central figure in the case.
The late Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. in the late 1980s signed into law a 24-hour waiting period for abortion and other restrictions, including spousal and parental consent requirements. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania sued, eventually leading to the 5-4 Supreme Court decision that reinterpreted how states could restrict the procedure.
Today, several states have so-called “trigger laws” that will restrict and criminalize abortion upon the Supreme Court striking down federal protections. Pennsylvania does not, but the overturning of Roe will send the abortion question to state legislatures across the nation.
Abortions are legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks and are permitted after that time window in cases of sexual assault, incest or to protect a pregnant person’s life.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters over the weekend that a nationwide abortion ban was “possible,” sparking the White House to comment Monday that the U.S. is at “serious risk” of such a blanket ban.
Mr. McConnell appeared to walk back his comments Tuesday, saying “the widespread sentiment of my conference is this issue will be dealt with at the state level.”
Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com.
Correction on June 20, 2022: A previous version misidentified the state law at issue in the U.S. Supreme Court case.
First Published: May 10, 2022, 4:29 p.m.
