Philadelphia
Three weeks ago, Virginia senator Tim Kaine said he supported a ban on federal funding of elective abortions, but now the Clinton campaign says that Kaine has reversed himself and backs unlimited taxpayer-funding of abortion for Medicaid recipients.
On July 6, Kaine was asked if he supported the change to the Democratic platform calling for the repeal of the Hyde amendment, a budget measure than bans federal Medicaid funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother. “I haven’t been informed of that change, but I’m going to check it out,” Kaine told THE WEEKLY STANDARD. “I have traditionally been a supporter of the Hyde amendment, but I’ll check it out.”
It wasn’t clear what Kaine needed to check out, but CNN is now reporting that Kaine has privately told Hillary Clinton that he supports her goal of repealing the Hyde amendment:
Clinton’s Robby Mook to @jaketapper: “(Kaine) has said he will stand w/ Sec Clinton to…repeal the Hyde amendment.” https://t.co/x4hwaZCcKJ
— Ted Davis (@TedDavisSAV) July 26, 2016
Clinton spokesman @JesseFFerguson tells me @TimKaine‘s commitment to stand w/ Hillary on repealing the Hyde amendment “was made privately.”
— Ted Davis (@TedDavisSAV) July 26, 2016
Kaine hasn’t given any public explanation for his reversal on the issue, but he appeared to be under pressure to move even farther left on abortion as he positioned himself to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate. In June, he cosponsored the “Women’s Health Protection Act” three years after it was introduced. The legislation could strike down almost all modest state laws on abortion, including 24-hour waiting periods, informed consent laws, and a late-term abortion ban under which Kermit Gosnell was convicted.
Kaine, a Catholic who says he is personally opposed to abortion, didn’t always take such an extreme stance. In his 2005 gubernatorial campaign, Kaine declared: “I support restrictions on abortion — no public funding and parental consent — and I’ve worked to pass a state law banning partial-birth abortion.”
Kaine’s reversals on these modest abortion restrictions have occurred over a decade in which the Democratic party has grown increasingly intolerant of pro-life voters. But during that time, Americans have not grown increasingly supportive of radically pro-abortion policies. The issue of taxpayer-funding of abortion under Obamacare played a significant role in the Democrats’ loss of the House of Representatives in 2010. And a Marist poll released this week found that 62 percent of Americans opposed taxpayer-funding of abortion.
