Bob Casey
Casey’s about-face on abortion rights mirrors that of Democrats around the country. Matt Rourke/AP

The End of the Anti-Abortion Democrat

For the first time, a national abortion rights organization endorsed Sen. Bob Casey, making his evolution from a “pro-life” Democrat complete.

Casey’s about-face on abortion rights mirrors that of Democrats around the country. Matt Rourke/AP

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey has described himself in the past as a “pro-life Democrat.” He has voted for a Donald Trump-backed federal 20-week abortion restriction and once said Roe v. Wade should be overturned. But this week, a leading abortion rights group endorsed him for the first time.

“We don’t win back the Senate without Pennsylvania,” explained Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, the group formerly known as NARAL. Timmaraju’s group became the first national abortion rights organization to officially back Casey because “post-Dobbs, he immediately understood that things had fundamentally changed in this country and his constituents were going to suffer,” she said.

And with that endorsement, the era of the “pro-life Democrat” in Congress is practically over.