Paul Kengor: Casey doesn’t support Casey

For a while now, I’ve been planning to write a column on whether Pennsylvania Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. would support his father’s position in the 1992 landmark abortion case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. That case enshrined Roe v. Wade. Of course, Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. was the late, great pro-life Democrat. He has been called the last great pro-life Democrat. His party has moved further to the left on the abortion issue. So has his son.

In 2006, Bob Casey Jr. first ran for the U.S. Senate. Pennsylvanians expected he would be like his father. They elected Casey in a crushing defeat of arguably the staunchest pro-lifer in the entire U.S. Senate: Republican Rick Santorum. For Pennsylvania pro-life Republicans, Santorum’s defeat hurt, but at least he had lost to Gov. Casey’s son, who claimed to be pro-life, and surely was.

Every year since, however, Casey has lurched further and further to the left on the abortion issue. NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Casey a 72% rating in its most recent (2020) Congressional Record on Reproductive Freedom, which will go higher given his 2022 positions. Planned Parenthood Action gave him a 75 (out of 100) for 2021-22. At the other end of the spectrum, the Susan B. Anthony List Pro-Life Scorecard gives Casey an “F.” (Notably, Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia gets a “B,” making him the highest-rated — and essentially lone — pro-life Democrat in the U.S. Senate.)

Casey has lurched so leftward on abortion that many of us wondered if Casey would even support Casey. That is, if Planned Parenthood v. Casey was ever overturned, would Casey Jr. support Casey Sr. in this landmark Supreme Court case?

Well, we just got our answer.

In the Dobbs ruling, the Supreme Court overturned both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

“Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito stated in his majority opinion. “Roe was on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided, (and) Casey perpetuated its errors. … The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions.”

The late Gov. Bob Casey has at long last been vindicated. Did his son celebrate? Quite the contrary.

“Today’s decision upends almost a half-century of legal precedent and rips away a constitutional right that generations of women have known their entire lives,” Casey stated in his official reaction to the Dobbs decision. “This dangerous ruling won’t end abortions in this country, but it will put women’s lives at risk. And make no mistake — this is not the end goal, it’s just the beginning. Republicans in Congress want to pass federal legislation to completely ban abortion. Our daughters and granddaughters should not grow up with fewer rights than their mothers.”

That is Casey’s official response in full, posted at his Senate website.

I would say his response is a shock, but in fact, his May vote for the Women’s Health Protection Act, which attempted to legislatively nationalize abortion and overturn all existing state pro-life laws, was yet another clear indication.

Five years ago, I would have predicted Casey to support Casey. Today, I am not surprised.