Barletta doesn’t think Trump court will overturn Roe v. Wade

HARRISBURG » Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta said Friday he doesn’t believe that a Supreme Court with a second appointee by Republican President Donald Trump will overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling establishing a nationwide right to abortion.

Barletta supports Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and said that he believes states should have the right to outlaw abortion, but he doesn’t think the court will throw out the precedent.

“So I’m pro-life, I believe that’s a living baby, I would rather see the states decide that, but it’s not going to happen,” Barletta said.

Barletta, of Hazleton, is serving his fourth U.S. House term and is challenging Democratic Sen. Bob Casey’s bid for a third term.

Casey, who also opposes abortion rights, already has said that he will oppose Kavanaugh. But Barletta said that Casey “claiming” that he opposes abortion rights is undercut by his vote last year against Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and then his vow to vote against Kavanaugh.

Barletta badly lags Casey in fundraising with four months until November’s general election, and no independent polls puts Barletta within striking distance of Casey. The race has hardly drawn any national attention, while the parties battling for U.S. Senate control are focused on races in at least 10 other states.

Barletta was in Harrisburg to speak to the Pennsylvania American Legion Conference, where he leaned heavily on his record fighting illegal immigration as the mayor of the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Hazleton.

Casey was in Philadelphia on Friday for a rally and a pair of fundraisers with Democratic U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

Harris’ visit fit neatly into Barletta’s narrative that Casey has grown too liberal for Pennsylvania since being elected in 2006, and would be better suited to representing more liberal states like California or Massachusetts.