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Joe Biden on Abortion

Former Vice President; previously Democratic Senator (DE)

 


Leaving abortion to the states turns back rights

Q [ to Trump]: As president, would you block abortion medication?

TRUMP: First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill. And I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it.

BIDEN: The fact is that the vast majority of constitutional scholars supported Roe when it was decided. And this is the guy [Trump] who says the states should be able to have it. We're in a state where in six weeks, you don't even know whether you're pregnant or not, but you cannot see the doctor or have your--and have him decide on what your circumstances are, whether you need help. The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying, we're going to turn civil rights back to the states. Let each state have a different rule.

Source: First Trump-Biden debate, at CNN in Atlanta , Jun 27, 2024

Congress should codify Roe v. Wade and I'll sign it

Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned. He's the reason it was overturned and he brags about it. Look at the chaos that has resulted.

There are state laws banning the freedom to choose. Criminalizing doctors, forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states to get the treatment they need. Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My god, what freedoms would you take away? Look, in its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices, "Women are not without electoral or political power." You're about to realize just how much you can brag about that.

History is watching another assault on freedom [about] the miracle of IVF To my friends across the aisle, don't keep this waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF. Guarantee it nationwide.

Source: 2024 State of the Union address , Mar 7, 2024

Roe v. Wade is under attack as never before

Advancing liberty and justice also requires protecting the rights of women. The constitutional right affirmed in Roe v. Wade--standing precedent for half a century--is under attack as never before. If we want to go forward--not backward--we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman's right to choose. And let's continue to advance maternal health care in America.
Source: 2022 State of the Union address , Mar 1, 2022

Restore federal Title X family planning program

PROMISE MADE: (Campaign website JoeBiden.com): Biden will reissue guidance specifying that states cannot refuse Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers and reverse the Trump Administration's rule preventing these organizations from obtaining Title X funds.

PROMISE KEPT: (NPR News, 4/14/21): The Biden administration is moving to reverse a Trump-era family planning policy that critics describe as a domestic "gag rule" for reproductive healthcare providers. The proposal would largely return the federal Title X family planning program to its status before Trump took office. The current rules, implemented by Trump in 2019, forbid any provider who provides or refers patients for abortions from receiving federal funding through Title X to cover services such as contraception and STD screenings for low-income people.

ANALYSIS: Since 1970, the Title X Program provides family planning services, without abortion funding.

Source: NPR on Biden Administration promises , Apr 14, 2021

Rescind Mexico City Policy "global gag rule"

PROMISE MADE: (2020 campaign website JoeBiden.com): Just as the Obama-Biden Administration did, rescind the Mexico City Policy that Pres. Trump reinstated & expanded. This rule currently bars the US federal government from supporting important global health efforts--including for malaria and HIV/AIDS--in developing countries simply because the organizations providing that aid also offer information on abortion services.

PROMISE KEPT: (Time magazine, 1/28/21): Biden will rescind the Mexico City policy--sometimes called the "global gag rule"--in another rollback of a Trump policy that will bring major changes to reproductive health and rights around the world.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: The Mexico City Policy has been instituted and rescinded by Executive Order each time the president's party changed. Reagan initiated the policy in 1985; Clinton rescinded it in 1993; Bush reinstated it in 2001; Obama rescinded it in 2009; Trump reinstated it in 2017.

Source: Time Magazine on Biden Promises , Jan 28, 2021

Fact-Check: opposes Hyde Amendment, after decades of support

Sen. Kamala HARRIS [to V.P. Biden]: You changed your position on the Hyde Amendment, where you made a decision for years to withhold resources to poor women to have access to reproductive healthcare.

BIDEN: The fact is that the senator knows that that's not my position. Everybody on this stage has been in the Congress and the Senate or House has voted for the Hyde Amendment at some point.

Fact-Check from Vice.com, 6/14/19: [Is that true? Yes.] The Hyde Amendment blocks federal funding for abortion. But Members of Congress don't vote directly on Hyde; rather, they vote for the package of spending bills that include Hyde. Every House or Senate member who's running for president has voted for bills that included Hyde language. Two days after declaring his support for the Hyde Amendment, Biden reversed his decades-long position on it. "If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone's ZIP code," Biden said.

Source: FactCheck on 2020 contenders: July Democratic Primary debate , Jul 31, 2019

Unequivocal support for abortion rights; Congress must act

BIDEN: I support a woman's right to choose. I support it's a constitutional right. I've supported it and I will continue to support it and I will, in fact, move as president to see to it that the Congress legislates that that is the laws as well.

Sen. Kamala HARRIS: Why did it take you so long to change your position in the Hyde Amendment?

BIDEN: Because there was not full federal funding for all reproductive services prior to this point.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit) , Jul 31, 2019

I accept church rule personally, but not in public life

Q: What role your religion has played in your own personal views on abortion?

RYAN: I don't see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith.

BIDEN: My religion defines who I am. And I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who can't take care of themselves, people who need help. With regard to abortion, I accept my church's position that life begins at conception. That's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and--I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman. I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women can't control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor, in my view. And the Supreme Court--I'm not going to interfere with that.

Source: 2012 Vice Presidential debate , Oct 11, 2012

No church needs to provide contraception under ObamaCare

RYAN: Look at what they're doing through "Obamacare" with respect to assaulting the religious liberties of this country. They're infringing upon our first freedom, the freedom of religion, by infringing on Catholic charities, Catholic churches, Catholic hospitals. Our church should not have to sue our federal government to maintain their religious liberties.

BIDEN: No religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including any hospital--none has to refer contraception. None has to pay for contraception. None has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact.

RYAN: If they agree with you, then why would they keep suing you? It's a distinction without a difference.

Source: 2012 Vice Presidential debate , Oct 11, 2012

Romney will appoint pro-life Justice; Obama will not

Q: If the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried?

RYAN: We don't think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people, through their elected representatives and reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process, should make this determination.

BIDEN: The next president will get one or two Supreme Court nominees. That's how close Roe v. Wade is. Just ask yourself: With Robert Bork being the chief adviser on the court for Mr. Romney, who do you think he's likely to appoint? Do you think he's likely to appoint someone far right, that would outlaw abortion? I suspect that would happen. I guarantee you that will not happen [with Obama]. We picked people who are open-minded. They've been good justices.

RYAN: Was there a litmus test on them?

BIDEN: There was no litmus test. We picked people who had an open mind, did not come with an agenda.

Source: 2012 Vice Presidential debate , Oct 11, 2012

Constitution does offer an inherent right to privacy

Q: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

A: I think the liberty clause of the 14th Amendment offers a right to privacy. Now that's one of the big debates that I have with my conservative scholar friends, that they say, you know, unless a right is enumerated--unless it's actually uses the word "privacy" in the Constitution--then no such "constitutional right" exists. Well, I think people have an inherent right.

Source: 2008 CBS News presidential interview with Katie Couric , Oct 1, 2008

Allow women to choose, but no federal funding

I remember vividly the first time, in 1973, I had to go to the floor to vote on abortion. A fellow Senator asked how I would vote. "My position is that I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don't think I have a right to impose my few on the rest of society. I've thought a lot about it, and my position probably doesn't please anyone. I think the government should stay out completely. I will not vote to overturn the Court's decision. I will not vote to curtail a woman's right to choose abortion. But I will also not vote to use federal funds to fund abortion."

I've stuck to my middle-of-the-road position on abortion for more than 30 years. I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding, and I'd like to make it easier for scared young mothers to choose not to have an abortion, but I will also vote against a constitutional amendment that strips a woman of her right to make her own choice.

Source: Promises to Keep, by Joe Biden, p.104-105 , Jul 31, 2007

No public funding for abortion; it imposes a view

Q: Are you still opposed to public funding for abortion?

A: I still am opposed to public funding for abortion. It goes to the question of whether or not you're going to impose a view to support something that is not a guaranteed right but an affirmative action to promote.

Source: Meet the Press: 2007 "Meet the Candidates" series , Apr 29, 2007

Supports partial-birth abortion ban, but not undoing Roe

Q: You supported the ban on partial-birth abortions or late-term abortions.

A: I did and I do.

And the Supreme Court came and basically upheld that ban, and you criticized the Supreme Court.

Q: They upheld the ban, and then they engaged in what we lawyers call dicta that is frightening. You had an intellectually dishonest rationale for an honest justification for upholding the ban. I know this is going to sound arcane--they blurred the distinction between the government's role in being involved in the first day and the ninth month. They became paternalistic, talking about the court could consider the impact on the mother and keeping her from making a mistake. This is all code for saying, "Here we come to undo Roe v. Wade." What they did is not so much the decision, the actual outcome of the decision, it's what attended the decision that portends for a real hard move on the court to undo the right of privacy. That's what I'm criticizing about the court's decision.

Source: Meet the Press: 2007 "Meet the Candidates" series , Apr 29, 2007

Accepts Catholic church view that life begins at conception

Q: You have changed your position on abortion. When you came to the Senate, you believed that Roe v. Wade was not correctly decided and that you also believed the right of abortion was not secured by the Constitution. Why did you change your mind?

A: Well, I was 29 years old when I came to the US Senate, and I have learned a lot. Look, I'm a practicing Catholic, and it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my religious and cultural views with my political responsibility.

Q: Do you believe that life begins at conception?

A: I am prepared to accept my church's view. I think it's a tough one. I have to accept that on faith. That's why the late-term abortion ban, where there's clearly viability.

Source: Meet the Press: 2007 "Meet the Candidates" series , Apr 29, 2007

Nominees should agree on constitutional right to privacy

Q: As president would you have a specific litmus test question on Roe v. Wade that you would ask of your nominees for the high court?

A: I strongly support Roe v. Wade. I wouldn't have a specific question but I would make sure that the people I sent to be nominated for the Supreme Court shared my values; and understood that there is a right to privacy in the United States Constitution. That's why I led the fight to defeat Bork, Roberts Alito, and Thomas.

Source: 2007 South Carolina Democratic primary debate, on MSNBC , Apr 26, 2007


Joe Biden on Voting Record

If Congress passes a national abortion ban, I will veto it

Congress must restore the right the Supreme Court took away last year and codify Roe v. Wade to protect every woman's constitutional right to choose. The Vice President and I are doing everything we can to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient privacy. But already, more than a dozen states are enforcing extreme abortion bans. Make no mistake; if Congress passes a national abortion ban, I will veto it.
Source: 2023 State of the Union speech as prepared for delivery , Feb 7, 2023

Everyone voted for Hyde Amendment; it was in other bills

Everybody who's been in the Congress voted for the Hyde Amendment at one point or another, because it was locked in other bills. The reason why I affirmatively came out opposed to the Hyde Amendment was, that if we're going to have public funding for all healthcare along the line, there is no way you could allow for there to be a requirement that you have Hyde Amendment, a woman who doesn't have the money could not have coverage under healthcare.
Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one) , Mar 15, 2020

Has guarded right to choose for years with SCOTUS votes

I was part of the reason why Elena Kagan got onto the Supreme Court. I was part of the reason why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on the Court. I was part of the reason why Sotomayor is on the Court. I'm the reason this right wasn't taken away because I almost single handedly made sure that Robert Bork did not get on the Court because he did not think there should be enumerated rights. Litmus test on abortion relates to the fundamental value of the Constitution. A woman does have a right to choose.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH , Feb 7, 2020

Roe v. Wade is as close to a consensus as we can get

Q: Why do you think Roe v. Wade was a good decision?

A: Because it's as close to a consensus that can exist in a society as heterogeneous as ours. What does it say? It says in the first three months that decision should be left to the woman. And the second three months, where Roe v. Wade says, well then the state, the government has a role, along with the women's health, they have a right to have some impact on that. And the third three months they say the weight of the government's input is on the fetus being carried.

And so that's sort of reflected as close as anybody is ever going to get in this heterogeneous, this multicultural society of religious people as to some sort of, not consensus, but as close it gets.

Source: 2008 CBS News presidential interview with Katie Couric , Oct 1, 2008


Joe Biden on Voting Rights

Trump's second term takes away reproductive freedom

Because of Trump's bans, women are bleeding out in emergency rooms or forced to travel hundreds of miles to access life saving care. Doctors face life sentences in jail just for providing health care that they were trained to provide. And families' access to IVF treatments is in jeopardy. And Trump calls this "a beautiful thing to watch." But what Trump and his extreme allies have planned for a second term is even worse:And Trump and his allies don't need the help of Congress OR the courts to accomplish this. Joe Biden is standing up to them at every step. Joe Biden is protecting reproductive freedom. 
Source: Biden campaign response, www.TrumpsProject2025.com , Jul 7, 2024

Rated 36% by NARAL, indicating a mixed voting record on abortion.

Biden scores 36% by NARAL on pro-choice voting record

For over thirty years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has been the political arm of the pro-choice movement and a strong advocate of reproductive freedom and choice. NARAL Pro-Choice America`s mission is to protect and preserve the right to choose while promoting policies and programs that improve women`s health and make abortion less necessary. NARAL Pro-Choice America works to educate Americans and officeholders about reproductive rights and health issues and elect pro-choice candidates at all levels of government. The NARAL ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Source: NARAL website 03n-NARAL on Dec 31, 2003

Expand embryonic stem cell research.

Biden signed a letter from 58 Senators to the President

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to expand the current federal policy concerning embryonic stem cell research.

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to be used to treat and better understand deadly and disabling diseases and conditions that affect more than 100 million Americans, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson`s, Alzheimer`s, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and many others.

We appreciate your words of support for the enormous potential of this research, and we know that you intended your policy to help promote this research to its fullest. As you know, the Administration`s policy limits federal funding only to embryonic stem cells that were derived by August 9, 2001.

However, scientists have told us that since the policy went into effect more than two years ago, we have learned that the embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal funding will not be suitable to effectively promote this research. We therefore feel it is essential to relax the restrictions in the current policy for this research to be fully explored.

Among the difficult challenges with the current policy are the following:

We would very much like to work with you to modify the current embryonic stem cell policy so that it provides this area of research the greatest opportunity to lead to the treatments and cures for which we are all hoping.
Source: Letter from 58 Senators to the President 04-SEN8 on Jun 4, 2004

Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance.

Biden scores 0% by the NRLC on abortion issues

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 NRLC scores as follows:

About the NRLC (from their website, www.nrlc.org):

The ultimate goal of the National Right to Life Committee is to restore legal protection to innocent human life. The primary interest of the National Right to Life Committee and its members has been the abortion controversy; however, it is also concerned with related matters of medical ethics which relate to the right to life issues of euthanasia and infanticide. The Committee does not have a position on issues such as contraception, sex education, capital punishment, and national defense. The National Right to Life Committee was founded in 1973 in response to the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, legalizing the practice of human abortion in all 50 states, throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy.

The NRLC has been instrumental in achieving a number of legislative reforms at the national level, including a ban on non-therapeutic experimentation of unborn and newborn babies, a federal conscience clause guaranteeing medical personnel the right to refuse to participate in abortion procedures, and various amendments to appropriations bills which prohibit (or limit) the use of federal funds to subsidize or promote abortions in the United States and overseas.

In addition to maintaining a lobbying presence at the federal level, NRLC serves as a clearinghouse of information for its state affiliates and local chapters, its individual members, the press, and the public.

Source: NRLC website 06n-NRLC on Dec 31, 2006

Protect the reproductive rights of women.

Biden co-sponsored protecting the reproductive rights of women