Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., says the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade has changed terminology related to abortion.
Casey told The Messenger on Friday that the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization means that the national debate now revolves around limitations on abortion.
"It's what kind of country you're going to be: Are we going to be a country that bans abortion?" Casey asked, The Messenger reported. "That's where I think Dobbs, really in so many ways, it was not just the overturning of a 49-year right, but it completely changed the conversation about the way forward, which is to kind of split people into two lanes — you are either going to support banning abortion or not.”
With the conversation changed, the man who used to call himself a "pro-life Democrat" now says that term is "antiquated."
"I don't believe that the terminologies we used before Dobbs make much sense anymore," the senator told The Messenger. "It's almost the terminology of pre-Dobbs is antiquated."
Casey backed the Women's Health Protection Act, which failed to pass the Senate after the leak of a draft of the Dobbs decision. That bill would have preserved the abortion protections in Roe v. Wade, which allowed the procedure until viability of the fetus, around 24 weeks.
By backing the legislation and distancing himself from the "pro-life" label, Casey appears to be in line with President Joe Biden.
"I'm a practicing Catholic. I'm not big on abortion," Biden said recently at a fundraiser. "But guess what? Roe v. Wade got it right."
Casey released a statement after the leaked draft and said: "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."
Casey's father, former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., once was known as the Democratic Party's most outspoken voice against abortion. He was cited in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the Supreme Court narrowly upheld the right to an abortion from Roe v. Wade.
The high court's ruling also allowed certain key provisions of Pennsylvania law such as a 24-hour waiting period and informed consent for minors seeking abortions.
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