Bob Casey on Abortion Democratic Sr Senator (PA)

Ban abortion after 20 weeks; but fund Planned Parenthood

Lou Barletta (R): Ban after 20 weeks, except for rape, incest, & life of mother.

Bob Casey (D): Ban after 20 weeks, except for rape, incest, & life of mother.

Q: Allow employers to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if disagree with it morally?

Lou Barletta (R): Yes. Supreme Court ruling on this is "a clear victory for religious liberty."

Bob Casey (D): No. Introduced Access to Birth Control Act, stating an employer has no right to deny a woman access to birth control.

Q: Let Planned Parenthood receive public funds for non-abortion health care?

Lou Barletta (R): No.

Bob Casey (D): Yes.

Plan B morning-after pill is contraception, not abortion

SANTORUM: No, I’m not. I agree that it is an abortifacient, and that it’s dangerous to give a dose of hormones equivalent to one third of a whole series of birth control pills to someone without any kind of doctor supervision.

CASEY: Yes, I’m in favor. I think what emergency contraception is contraception.

Q: But you do believe life begins at conception?

CASEY: I do.

Q: If this was fertilized, would you call it abortion?

CASEY: The science is clear on this. It is contraception, and I support it. I think we’ve got to make it widely available, and I think that’s one of the ways we reach common ground on the very tough issue of abortion: emergency contraception can reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies. That’s what we should emphasize.

SANTORUM: The science is clear. In fact, it is an abortifacient in certain circumstances.

Roe v. Wade Should Be Overturned

Right to Privacy means contraception, not unborn

No embryonic stem cell research; adult research ok

A: I support the current federal policy on embryonic stem cell research.

Q: How would you vote if the Castle bill came to you in the Senate? [The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, known as the Castle bill, would allow embryonic stem cell research on so-called “left over” embryos from in-vitro fertilization clinics.]

A: I would oppose the Castle bill to expand federal support of embryonic stem cell research. As a US Senator, I will strongly support funding for stem cell research that doesn’t destroy an embryo. There are many promising techniques under development that don’t require destroying the embryo and there’s good reason to hope that soon we’ll be able to remove the politics from this issue. I also strongly support increased federal funding for research on stem cells derived from adult cells, bone marrow and placentas - areas where tremendous progress has already been made.

Exceptions to save life of mother, rape & incest

A: Support a) Life of the mother. If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, a PA bill would contain exceptions for rape, for incest, and for the life of the mother. I would strongly support that bill because it would have the effect of reducing the number of abortions in PA.

Opposes public funding of abortion

A: Oppose .

Q: What is your position on public funding of abortion?

A: Oppose

Supports state funding of contraceptive services

A: Support

Q: What is your position on requiring employers or health insurance plans to cover contraceptives in their prescription drug plans?

A: Support

Opposes Woman’s Right to Abortion

Opposes Tax-Funded Abortion

Supports Legal Protection for Human Life from Conception

Supports public abortion funding.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Public funding of abortions"

Supports parental notification for abortions.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Parental notification for abortions by minors"

Opposes churches providing birth control.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Requiring religious groups to cover birth control & abortion in insurance"

Keep federal funding for family planning clinics.

Excerpts from Letter to the Senate Majority Leader from 46 Senators: The recent vote in the House to overturn rules protecting Title X health centers would deny women access to care. In 2015, Title X provided basic primary and preventive health care services such as pap tests, breast exams, and HIV testing to more than four million low-income women and men at over 4,000 health centers. In large part due to this work, the US unintended pregnancy rate is at a 30-year low, and rates of teenage pregnancy are the lowest in our nation`s history. The success of the program is dependent on funding. Family planning services, like those provided at Planned Parenthood and other family planning centers, should be available to all women, no matter where they live or how much money they make.

Opposing argument: (Heritage Foundation, `Disentangling the Data`): Planned Parenthood received approximately $60 million of taxpayer money under Title X, and $390 million through Medicaid. To ensure that taxpayers are not forced to subsidize America`s number one abortion provider, Congress should make Planned Parenthood affiliates ineligible to receive either Medicaid reimbursements or Title X grants if they continue to perform abortions. Taxpayer money from these programs should instead be redirected to the more than 9,000 federally qualified health center sites that provide comprehensive primary health care for those in need without entanglement in abortion.

Supporting argument: (ACLU, `Urging Title X`): Title X services help women & men to plan the number and timing of their pregnancies, thereby helping to prevent approximately one million unintended pregnancies, nearly half of which would end in abortion. However, current funding is inadequate. Had Title X funding kept up with inflation it would now be funded at nearly $700 million. We ask that Title X be funded at $375 million, which is $92 million above its current funding level.

Voted YES to protect infant survivors of abortion.

S.311/H.R.962: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act: Congress finds the following:

• If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws.
• (2) Any infant born alive after an abortion or within a hospital, clinic, or other facility has the same claim to the protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or for any person who comes to a hospital, clinic, or other facility for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a patient within its care.
• In the case of an attempted abortion that results in a child born alive, any health care practitioner present at the time the child is born alive shall exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.

Opposing argument from Rewire.com, `Born Alive Propaganda,` by Calla Hales, 4/12/2019: From restrictive bans at various points of pregnancy to a proposed death penalty for seeking care, both federal and state legislators are taking aim at abortion rights. The goal? To make abortion illegal, criminalizing patients and providers in the process. One kind of bill making a recent resurgence is the `Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.` These bills aim to further the false narrative that abortions regularly occur immediately before or, according to the president, at the time of birth. Intentional action to end the life of an infant is already illegal. This is covered by federal and state infanticide laws. These bills do nothing but vilify physicians who provide reproductive health care.

Legislative outcome Referred to Committee in House; Senate motion to proceed rejected, 56-41-3 (60 required).