Joe Biden’s abortion comments from 2006 resurfaced in which he showed a more moderate tone on the issue saying he was the “odd man out” in the Democratic Party on the issue.
“I’m a little bit of an odd man out in my party,” the former vice president said in video dug up by CNN. “I do not vote for funding for abortion. I voted against partial birth abortion — to limit it — and I vote for no restrictions on a woman’s right to be able to have an abortion under Roe v. Wade. And, so I am — I made everybody angry. I made the right-to-life people angry because I won’t support a constitutional amendment or limitations on a woman’s right to exercise her constitutional right as defined by Roe v. Wade. And I’ve made the groups — the women’s groups and others — very angry because I won’t support public funding and I won’t support partial birth abortion.”
“I do not view abortion as a choice and a right,” Biden said. “I think it’s always a tragedy, and I think that it should be rare and safe, and I think we should be focusing on how to limit the number of abortions. There ought to be able to have a common ground and consensus as to do that.”
“I think the vast majority of the American people think that can be done. But unfortunately, we’re put in the position, you’re either, ‘eliminate abortions under all circumstance’ or quote ‘abortion on demand,'” he added. “The fact of the matter is, I’ve never known of a woman having an abortion say ‘By the way, I feel like having an abortion.’ It’s always a tragic decision made. Always a difficult decision. And I think we should focus on how to deal with women not wanting abortion.”
Biden said a week ago that he no longer supports the Hyde Amendment which bans federal funds from going towards abortions because “times have changed.”
“I’ve supported the Hyde Amendment like many, many others have because there was sufficient monies and circumstances where women were able to exercise that right,” Biden said. “But circumstances have changed.”
“I can’t justify leaving millions of women without access to care they need and the ability to constitute, exercise their constitutionally protected right. If I believe healthcare is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s ZIP code,” he added.
“Vice President Biden supports a woman’s right to choose and he believes that we are in a moment of unprecedented assault on choice in this country,” a Biden campaign spokesperson said when asked about his 2006 comments.
Biden is currently the front-runner in a field of two dozen candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
