Casey addresses abortion claims from Mooney

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The Democratic candidate for Congress in West Virginia’s 2nd District dismisses claims that he supports late-term abortions as “scurrilous lies.”

“It is false,” Nick Casey, a former state Democratic Party chair, said when asked about those allegations from Republican Congressional candidate Alex Mooney’s camp on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

“It just amazes me that people would say…try to hold me up as not being a pro-life person because we wanted to do something that we knew we could have achieved, that would have stopped late-term abortions.”

Casey, a lifelong Catholic who says he is pro-life, was referring to his lobbying work on behalf of the fetal pain bill, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, during the 2014 Regular Legislative Session.

Both the state Senate and state House of Delegates passed the bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks into a pregnancy in West Virginia except in cases of medical emergencies.

Supporters argued medical evidence showed an unborn baby or fetus feels pain at the 20 week mark and, because of that, the state has a duty to protect that unborn child or fetus. If the bill had become law, doctors performing such abortions would have faced criminal charges for violating the ban.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed the legislation because, he said, the bill was unconstitutional.

“The bill is also problematic because it unduly restricts the physician-patient relationship,” he said in a statement at the time. “All patients, particularly expectant mothers, require the best, most unfettered medical judgment and advice from their physicians regarding treatment options.”

Casey said the bill would have passed constitutional muster if the cutoff point had been moved to 24 weeks–what is considered viability, when the child or fetus could feasibly survive outside of the womb.

“What happened was, they had a bill they could have gotten at 24 weeks. They ruined it. They ruined it. They made it a bill they couldn’t pass,” Casey said.

“So, you do oppose abortion at all levels (as a person who is pro-life). But is it better to have a 24 week bill they could have passed or no bill? They got no bill.” Casey said, because there is no legislation, late-term abortions are still an option in the Mountain State.

Both the National Right to Life Committee and West Virginians for Life have endorsed Mooney, who also claims Casey supports taxpayer-funded abortions, ahead of the Nov. 4 general election.

In a survey from the National Right to Life Committee earlier this year, Mooney answered “yes” to the following questions, while Casey answered “no”: Would you support legislation to protect pain-capable unborn children from death by abortion? Would you vote to repeal the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”? Would you vote against any legislation that would curb the right of private citizens to support advocacy organizations without being publicly identified by the government?

Early voting begins on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

On Friday, MetroNews “Talkline” originated from The Greenbrier Resort as part of the West Virginia Hospital Association’s 89th Annual Meeting.





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