"Abortion on demand has, in my judgment, contributed significantly to an environment in our country in which life has become very cheap"
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Robert P. Casey Sr., the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995, argued that permissive abortion laws do more than permit a medical procedure; they shape the moral climate of a nation. The phrase abortion on demand signals his concern that when abortion is treated as a matter of individual choice without substantial limits, the broader culture absorbs a lesson: human life may be weighed against convenience, circumstance, or preference, and thus become cheap in the public imagination. He frames law as a teacher, not just an enforcer, contending that legal norms set thresholds for what a society regards as inviolable.
Casey spoke as a pro-life Democrat rooted in a Catholic, New Deal tradition that linked the protection of the unborn with commitments to labor rights, social welfare, and the vulnerable. His most visible role came in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), where his administration defended Pennsylvania restrictions such as informed consent and a waiting period. The Supreme Court, while reaffirming Roe v. Wade’s core holding, adopted the undue burden standard that bears his name, reflecting the belief that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting potential life and shaping moral deliberation.
The claim that life has become cheap is not only about abortion numbers; it expresses anxiety about a culture that normalizes ending nascent life as an ordinary solution. It echoes a wider critique of instrumental reason, in which human worth is measured by utility, autonomy, or economic calculus. Critics of Casey’s view respond that safeguarding women’s autonomy and bodily integrity elevates, rather than cheapens, human dignity, and that safe, legal access prevents harm and coerced motherhood. The debate turns on which harms count, whose agency is prioritized, and how law forms moral habits. Casey’s warning is thus both empirical and philosophical: change the legal backdrop, and you change the collective sense of what life demands from us.
Casey spoke as a pro-life Democrat rooted in a Catholic, New Deal tradition that linked the protection of the unborn with commitments to labor rights, social welfare, and the vulnerable. His most visible role came in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), where his administration defended Pennsylvania restrictions such as informed consent and a waiting period. The Supreme Court, while reaffirming Roe v. Wade’s core holding, adopted the undue burden standard that bears his name, reflecting the belief that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting potential life and shaping moral deliberation.
The claim that life has become cheap is not only about abortion numbers; it expresses anxiety about a culture that normalizes ending nascent life as an ordinary solution. It echoes a wider critique of instrumental reason, in which human worth is measured by utility, autonomy, or economic calculus. Critics of Casey’s view respond that safeguarding women’s autonomy and bodily integrity elevates, rather than cheapens, human dignity, and that safe, legal access prevents harm and coerced motherhood. The debate turns on which harms count, whose agency is prioritized, and how law forms moral habits. Casey’s warning is thus both empirical and philosophical: change the legal backdrop, and you change the collective sense of what life demands from us.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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