Sen. Bob Casey's, D-Pa., re-election bid this November has become more complicated with an upcoming vote likely on President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nomination, because it highlights his stance on abortion, Politico reported Monday.
Casting himself as a pro-choice Democrat in a heavily Catholic state, Casey has after a decade in the Senate become an increasingly reliable vote in support of abortion rights. Anti-abortion groups say he is no champion of their cause and view him as unlikely to support Trump's nominee, whose confirmation will be a proxy battle on the future of Roe v. Wade.
Pro-lifers also point out Casey voted against Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court
Casey's Republican challenger Rep. Lou Barletta has emphasized the issue, proclaiming "I'm 100 percent pro-life. According to his voting record, he has voted only 20 percent for life in the 115th Congress."
However, Casey leads Republican challenger Lou Barletta 47 percent to 32 percent in the latest survey, according to a Suffolk University/York Daily Record poll released last week.
Casey also pushes back against Barletta's narrative, telling Politico that "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."
Casey agrees with conservatives in opposing the Roe decision and the taxpayer funding of the procedure, but votes with progressive abortion rights organizations in his support for Obamacare, access to contraception and funding for Planned Parenthood.
Casey says supporting Obamacare and backing access to contraception and Planned Parenthood funding are anti-abortion positions, explaining "the evidence is pretty strong: if you have access to family planning and birth control, the abortion rate is going to go down. There are fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer occasions where a woman is confronted with that decision if she has access to family planning and birth control."
Casey has insisted if both sides would focus on areas of common ground and support pregnant women, "not only would the number of unwanted pregnancies go down, but you're more likely to have women with healthy pregnancies."
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