COLUMBIA, S.C. — The microphone gave out Saturday as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden prepared to defend his record on abortion rights.
Biden, the vice president under former President Barack Obama, was responding to a question from Kelley Robinson, national organizing director for Planned Parenthood, who asked how he could convince voters that he was sincere about his commitment to abortion rights “given your mixed record” on sexual and reproductive health.
“First of all, I’m not sure about the mixed record part,” Biden said. “I’ve had, I have had 100% voting record —” before the mic dropped.
When the sound returned, Biden, reading from a notepad, changed the subject to say what he would do if elected president, including codifying into federal law the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. The 1973 ruling legalized abortion across the U.S. for up to fetal viability, which is generally understood to be roughly 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Biden came under fire this month when he said he supported repealing the Hyde Amendment fewer than two days after his campaign said he supported it. The amendment is a provision included in government spending bills that bans federal funding for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s pregnancy threatens her life.
Biden, like several other Democrats running for president, has voted in support of spending bills that contain the Hyde Amendment when he was senator. Other Democratic candidates support repealing the Hyde Amendment, and the Democratic National Committee has since 2016 called for its abolishment, saying it gets in the way of low-income women having access to abortion.
