It wasn’t enough for Joe Biden to praise Dick Cheney; now he’s decided to join Republicans in stillsupporting the Hyde Amendment—the rule that forbids any tax dollars from being used for abortion services.
He’s always been a staunch supporter of the Hyde Amendment. “As a U.S. senator from Delaware, Biden voted against a 1977 compromise that allowed Medicaid to fund abortions that included exceptions for victims of rape and incest in addition to concerns for the life of the mother,” reports NBC News. “While the rape and incest exceptions passed in that case, Biden voted in 1981 to again remove them, in what was the most far-reaching ban on federal funds ever enacted by Congress.” Holy shit. That’s extreme shit.
Luckily, the rest of the serious Democratic candidates are on solid footing. Elizabeth Warren’s reaction to Biden’s support for the amendment was unbelievably good. Pete Buttigieg has a deft touch when discussing the topic. Bernie Sanders was unequivocal about ending the Hyde Amendment, as was (of course) Kamala Harris.
In a political climate in which red states are emboldened to assault reproductive rights with the hope that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will deliver a death blow to Roe v. Wade, it’s tragic that there’s any daylight between our presidential contenders on the issue.
Then again, we do need to whittle the field down some more. So maybe Biden is doing everyone a favor.