Yesterday,
I wrote about how Joe Biden was bucking the Democratic abortion extremists
and doubling down on his longtime support for the Hyde Amendment, a law that
prohibits federal funds from being spent on abortion. As I almost wrote
yesterday, it was too good to last. It should have been apparent that the twin
priorities of legal abortion and spending federal money are too significant to
be resisted by national Democratic candidates.
Thursday afternoon at a fundraiser in Atlanta, Biden flipped
back. The candidate told supporters, “If I believe health care is a right, as I
do, I can no longer support an amendment.”
In the Associated Press
account of the speech, Biden’s speech was primarily focused on voting rights
and issues that were important to the black community, but he opened with a
reference to this week’s controversy over stance on federal funding for abortion,
saying, “I’ve been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents.”
“I want to be clear: I make no apologies for my last
position. I make no apologies for what I’m about to say,” Biden said, arguing
that “circumstances have changed” after a number of states recently passed laws
that heavily restrict the practice of abortion.
In the speech, Biden said that he believed that there were
now too many restrictions on abortion and that many women were left without the
option. He said that his flipflop on the issue was the result of his
development of a detailed healthcare proposal, which he described as a
Medicare-type public option that would encourage universal coverage. Biden said
that universal care means that women should have access to abortion.
While the radical abortion-rights crowd will celebrate the
newfound lack of diversity on the issue among their presidential candidates, not
all Democratic voters will be happy with the change. As I pointed yesterday, a poll
from earlier this year showed that a third of Democrats consider themselves to
be pro-life. The intolerance of pro-life positions could especially hurt the
party in the Bible Belt where pro-life Democrats such as Louisiana
Gov. John Bel Edwards have shown the ability to win statewide races but
pro-abortion candidates such as Stacey Abrams of Georgia always seem to come up
just short.
“Sure, most of the hardcore left don't want any
restrictions, but the majority of Americans do,” said a commenter on yesterday’s
story about Biden. “I am a Democrat, yet I approve and support the Hyde Amendment.
Biden is looking more and more like my likely choice.”
There is no word from this commenter yet on whether he will
still support Biden after his flipflop on the Hyde Amendment, but it is likely
that he will. There simply aren’t any better pro-life options among the Democratic
candidates.
Originally published
on The
Resurgent
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