Good for Biden. Abortion is a very private matter. Why should the public pay for it?
2
I guess personal accountability and the rights of the unborn to not be torn apart and killed are not politically correct concepts these days. Just women having unfettered rights to abortion at taxpayer expense.
2
Biden is the archetypal establishment politician attempting to have it both ways. It is almost beyond belief that he is leading in the polls. Either the average voter is dumb as a rock or pollsters are misleading us.
Maybe Joe Biden should re-think his plans and run as a Republican. He surely resembles one in most ways.
2
Joe is out of touch with his base while he's busy flirting with the GOP base by following HRC's losing playbook. He will lose the progressive vote, demotivate the young, minorities and lose female voters. Tired old Joe so out of touch, he lost my vote and should just quit.
1
Dear Republicans, I have the perfect solution for the Hyde Amendment: We'll give up federal funding for abortions when you give up federal funding for the death penalty. We are as deeply morally opposed to the latter as you are to the former.
2
1) Mr Biden is no longer in the government, so whether or not he backs the amendment only matters if he is elected President.
2) So what we need to know is he would veto legislation to restore federal funding for abortion. If he would not, then I would vote for him. If he would, then I would not. He does not get to write legislation, only give it the final stamp of approval.
3) I find it curious that the Times did not see fit to ask him what he would do should that legislation cross his desk. Once again I am left with the feeling that the Times has its own agenda beyond reporting the news, and this agenda makes its reporting suspect.
We should vote for younger, progressive candidates such as O'Rourke, Buttigieg, Harris . . .
I'm puzzled by "Pro-life" folks' argument. While they try to outlaw abortion, they also want to cut aid to unwed mothers who are usually poor.
2
If heaven-forbid somehow ol' Joe gets the nomination of the Democratic party, I will NOT be voting for him. Women are sick of men telling us what to do with our bodies while they ruin the economy. Biden is a true conservative through and through. He's alienating many true Democrats as you can see from the other comments. The Democratic party has another rude shock coming if they think they can push him on us core-Democratic voters and we will meekly vote for him. Warren is the only candidate with a real chance to beat Trump.
1
Wishy-washy Biden does not know how to handle this issue. You do NOT shoot yourself and the rest of the field in the foot by backing the Hyde Amendment and turning abortion into a Democratic primary issue. THIS is the way you handle it: You say abortion is NOT a real issue. That it is a red herring created by the right wing in order to sow division. That the real way to fight abortions is through the Democrats plans for health care, birth control and family planning services, aid for children and pregnant mothers, and sex ed. Abortion is a health care decision based on your own individual medical decsion. If you believe there is a spiritual aura making the embryo sacred, that's your own religious decision to inform your medical decision--if you do not, you have a right to your own health care, including abortion.
1
I agree with Biden. Those against abortion shouldn’t have to fund it. Now we just need to extend this so we don’t have to fund the death penalty or war......
5
He couldn't have taken better aim at his own foot.
1
Dumb move.
2
His candidacy is dead in the water.
3
Biden loses to Trump.
We do not need another conservative Dem to repeat the Clinton debacle.
As voters examine his past performance and current views, Biden will fade fast. A progressive candidate (Sanders, Warren) defeats Trump.
Then the work on behalf of all Americans begins.
5
Up to now, I have supported Biden as the best choice to beat Trump in 2020. But I cannot support any candidate who fails to unequivocally support a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. And this includes her right to terminate a pregnancy. Federal assistance for health care should not be curtailed because of anyone's religious beliefs. Religion has no place in government.
16
My ideal ticket was Biden/Warren. No longer. I wouldn't vote for Old Joe for dog catcher. Your misogynistic Papist theopathy disqualifies you for anything - except perhaps Altar Boy.
4
Please, Mr. Biden, thank you for your service but it's time to go home. Have you heard Elizabeth Warren speak? She has direct answers without obfuscation and with explanation. This is not the election for equivocating or for splitting the Democratic party any further than it is. We must unify around our party's future and do everything in our power to dispatch Trump and Trumpism back to the netherworld from which it came.
I am close to your and I share many of your values, but believe that it is time to let the new generation see if they can do better then we have. President Obama was a wonderful start in that direction, and your service certainly helped, but like any good book, there comes a time for the next chapter. This is that time.
1
Jimmy Carter had the best answer. He personally was opposed but women's right to privacy, in the constitution and the will of the majority were the final law.
Political decisions of any strip should stay out of the bedroom and doctors' offices
1
I, a lifelong Democrat, will do what I can to assure that Biden is NOT the candidate for President in the next election. Anyone who supports the Hyde Amendment obviously thinks women are sub-human and not worthy of government support in the choices they make about their bodies. His attitude toward women was obvious with his treatment of Anita Hill and his unwillingness to apologize to her. This man has no place in the White House.
4
Biden’s support of the Hyde Amendment may make him more likable to those Republicans, like myself, who want Trump out. Further, I don’t see why tax dollars should be going towards something half of American’s see as taking the lives of fetuses.
I'm done. Its time to prohibit erectile dysfunction treatment. In my religiously-informed opinion, that's god telling you that you're done impregnating people.
And its time to fully fund anyone needing an abortion, including those in poverty and in the military.
3
Complicated, yes, but for me another deal breaker for me with Biden.
6
The Hyde Amendment is the antithesis of "universal healthcare". Wake up Joe, get yourself on the correct side of this issue. Every woman deserves complete reproductive rights and care. It doesn't matter how it is funded or who provides it. Public or private.
Punishing the poor is not good for your campaign, Joe.
8
The Hyde Amendment is Law. This is a very new “must do now” for most & purely disingenuous on their behalf. I’m not buying it.
3
Biden is stuck in the 20th century. I will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is, but I hope it's not him.
7
My opinion on Biden is exactly the same. I'll vote for him over Trump...but I will definitely be holding my nose.
4
Joe Biden’s courageous stand on the Hyde Amendment hopefully will bring the abortion issue to where it belongs—out of the public arena.
Abortion inflames passions. It has made us a one issue nation—and it is the wrong issue.
Why the wrong issue?
Because a populist candidate winning hearts and votes over abortion may not have the competency to tackle great challenges.
Let's start by recognizing;
1) Abortion is a religious issue. Governments, whether federal or state, constitutionally cannot take sides in doctrinal debates. Jefferson was right— absolute separation of church and state is the first and most important freedom.
2) Pro-choice advocates must recognize they cannot expect those with strong religious pro-life beliefs to pay taxes for a procedure others consider morally wrong.
3) Pro-life advocates need to accept that in a free society there are boundaries-- and one is that you cannot use the government to forcibly send people to Heaven.
So let's get abortion off the public debate.
Yes, this seems like an impossible order. But let's try. Otherwise we risk losing a person of the caliber of Joe Biden in the White House.
3
I consider war morally wrong most of the time - take Iraq for example. I consider certain agricultural subsidies - sugar, ethanol - morally wrong. I believe covering "ED" treatments but denying abortion coverage moral hypocrisy. Why should I pay taxes for these purposes?
7
I am disgusted. Nuclear power yesterday and the Hyde amendment today. After Elizabeth Warren's blistering defense of the need to keep abortion safe and legal I am making a donation to her now. (I have no idea who I support at this point.) Just go away Biden.
6
As part of the firestorm over Joe Biden’s support for the Hyde Amendment, Sen. Gillibrand declared: “Reproductive rights are human rights, period. They should be nonnegotiable for all Democrats.” And Sen. Sanders said: “Abortion is a constitutional right.”
There surely are good reasons that Medicaid should pay for abortions - but the fact that abortion is “a human right” or “a constitutional right” is just as surely not one of them. The Constitution protects many rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but no one would argue that the Government must subsidize a newspaper.
3
I wish I could take back the money I donated to his campaign. He won’t get any more from me.
5
If indeed he is still supports the Hyde Amendment it will be another indication that Joe is a Democratic dinosaur whose time has passed. I’ll reserve judgement until he speaks directly on this issue but support for Hyde is tantamount to being anti-choice and I’m one Democrat who will not vote for a primary candidate who does not support a woman’s right and access to abortion consistent with Roe.
6
Just a note to all the Bernie bros, Warren tribe, Harris caste, etc., your heroes have almost certainly voted for the Hyde Amendment before. Because the Hyde Amendment isn’t a permanent statute that bans federal abortion funding. It’s a rider or provision attached to annual appropriation bills that limits the use of that federal money. If Democrats really oppose it, they can take a principled stand and strip it from the appropriations bill. Remember Democrats control the House.
And remember that your state can provide abortion funding. The Hyde Amendment only limits federal funding of abortion, states and localities are free to pay for as much abortion as they want. For example, New York State provides abortion on demand to Medicaid beneficiaries. Why doesn’t yours?
2
@H
"Just a note to all the Bernie bros,...your heroes have almost certainly voted for the Hyde Amendment before."
Show me where/when Bernie voted for Hyde Amndt?
His Medicare4All has provisions for covering abortion care, ending Hyde amendment etc. His support for unconditional abortion rights goes back to the 70s, before any Dems.
Don't spread misinformation, please.
4
Go to Congress’ website and review the HHS and consolidated appropriations bills for the last 4 decades. Congress maintains a bill database with the text and roll call votes. The Hyde Amendment language on abortion has been attached to appropriations bills every year for the past 4 decades. It’s a restriction that is reauthorized annually, it’s not a permanent law. Unless Bernie and the rest of them have voted against every appropriation bills during their time in Congress, they’ve all voted for the Hyde Amendment before.
Just look at the abortion language in the 2008 appropriations bill and the votes. If this article was more informative or the readers more educated, there’d be fewer ignorant comments.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/2764
1
@H
The S.Amdt.2707 (which "prohibits funding of organizations that support coercive abortion") to H.R.2764 that you cite clearly shows Sanders voting "Nay". What's next, "educated reader"?
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00318
"As VP, Joe Biden repeatedly sought to undermine the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, working in alliance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to push for a broad exemption that would have left millions of women without coverage"
https://theintercept.com/2019/06/05/joe-biden-worked-to-undermine-the-affordable-care-acts-coverage-of-contraception/
6
People kept wondering if he would commit a lethal gaffe, as in his previous presidential campaign. He may just have done so.
5
I'll give Joe credit for at least stating and standing by his beliefs.
I'll also vehemently disagree with Joe on this too; amongst many more issues.
In the Pro-Con scale...this would be another Nope for Joe.
As opposed to Sen. Sanders who spoke out in favor of abortion rights, pre Roe-v-Wade in '72. Ruffling feathers as he does, speaking truth to power once again.
He too, standing by his beliefs and fighting for them per usual.
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-hyde-amendment-abortion-rights-1442412
5
Biden's strategy has always been the same.
1. Shoot self in foot.
2. Repeat if necessary.
10
By all means, progressives, let's argue on how to rearrange the silverware at the table in the banquet room while the Titanic is sinking.
Vote for the most electable candidate to beat Trump. Settle policy specifics later. You cannot tell me that Biden's position on the Hyde Amendment (which I disagree with) is a deal-breaker compared to 4 more years of Trump, which is what you'll get if you stay home. If you've learned anything from 2016, you need to vote for whoever the strongest candidate is, even if he isn't in agreement with you on every position.
~ Purity is for ivory soap, not the 2020 election. ~
5
1) How will any of the candidates repeal the Hyde Amendment? Wouldn't any change have to go through the Republican held Senate? Or are the other Democratic candidates promising to flip the Senate too? This shouldn't be a litmus test since it's not even politically realistic right now.
2) If democrats hope to appeal to pro-life democrats (yes they exist...) or independents or even disillusioned Republicans (yes they too exist...), the Hyde Amendment should not be on the chopping block. For example, plenty of my family that were wiling to vote for Obama were not willing to vote for Hillary because of her stance on the Hyde Amendment (voted third party). They want to vote against Trump this election but won't do it if it means their tax dollars could fund abortions (which from their perspective is killing minority babies).
tldr: Biden is willing to not alienate independents, moderates, pro-life democrats, or anti-Trump republicans on an issue he realistically couldn't change anyway (see Senate). Why is that such a negative? Why is that so novel in the Democratic Party?Sounds pragmatic to me. This has only encouraged me to vote for him more.
3
@James Agreed. Hard left progressives in their echo chamber are shooting the Democratic Party in the foot by mistaking support for keeping abortion legal with support for getting the taxpayer money involved to fund it. Biden actually knows how to fight battles that most people care about and battles that he can win, instead of pushing a hard left progressive agenda that only a small percentage of people agree with.
1
Please don't support Biden. This country needs a blue dog democrat (slightly more liberal than George H.W. Bush) like it needs a hole in the head.
Biden is a loser. If the Democrats go with him they are hopeless and this country is doomed.
11
Uh oh, there goes good old Joe again.
So are we now witnessing the start of a turn in 2020 politics?This will be a big debate issue, as abortion itself is seriously under threat in America. Who would have believed that ---in the 21st Century?
Let's see how many of his voters who now poll pro Joe, end up sticking with him---so smiling, manipulating ----so clueless and self destructive over and over again.
Why should millions of Americans be faced with such a choice--- to vote for Biden who doesn't mind rolling back abortion rights, or see Trump get a 2nd term? What disgusting choices.
Biden's good with PR--in fact he reeks with it. Maybe he would never verbally disparage low or average earning people.
But he passed laws that favored the banks and credit card companies and made it harder for average people to declare bankruptcy. Some had big medical debt and were uninsured. Too bad!
It's plain who are winners and losers with Biden. Sen. Warren has famouslyhad opposite policies on consumer protections and points up Biden's deficiencies.
And big money? Biden opened his campaign at a dinner given by a Comcast big donor, who has donated also to Republicans.
Most of the Dem candidates for 2020 are way better than Biden.
10
Reproductive rights, including a woman’s right
to a safe, legal abortion is not the issue to
parse in order to seem moderate. We should
not nominate Biden if he fails to represent the
majority of Democrats, especially the majority
of Democratic women. Senator Harris or Senator
Warren can beat Trump; Biden is not irreplaceable.
4
@howard williams You think the majority of Democrats and centrists want the government to fund abortions? The majority of Democrats, let alone the country, are not hard left progressives. Keeping abortion legal is already a divisive issue as it is, and pushing for government funding for this will not be supported by the majority.
1
The circular firing squad is having a field day. Not all loyal dems disagree with the premise of the Hatch Act. Deal with it.
Progressives are pretty regressive when it comes to actually wanting to win and I'm a progressive.
3
@Michelle Teas
Saying you're a progressive doesn't make you one, any more than saying you're Marie Antoinette.
If the firing squad has proved anything, it's that the Republicans demand ideological purity from their candidates. Perhaps its that ideological purity that makes them win the over 1000 seats the Dems have lost over the decade.
But hey, keep watering down your demands and then wonder why you lost. Turning your platform into your oponent's is bound to get people to vote for your party! Especially if you punctuate every statement with "I'm a progressive!"
@Viv Untrue. Republicans have also watered down their ideological purity. You think Trump is a conservative? He is a big government populist who ran on a platform of expanding social programs and not cutting the social safety network.
@Leouch
Trump's identity is irrelevant. Personally he likely is pro-choice. Ideologically, he aligned himself with the Democratic party by the fact that he donated money to their campaigns.
What matter is that the policies he has signed into law, and campaigned on, are the standard Republican fare.
Can you name one single policy the Republicans actually consider capitulating on? Can you name one initiative they are flexible on, as an effort to get Demos on board? No. Because there isn't one.
2
The morals are yours, but the money is federal. If you are offended by the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, light a candle and say 3 Hail Marys. Translation: lets stop using individual moral arguments to deprive poor women of the right to choose. It's a downright shame that Biden thinks that he needs to turn his back to reproductive rights to win in 2010. I think it will backfire. You don't out-christian the Christian right. Same goes to other dems who are playing the "moral values" card.
6
@Marco Avellaneda Federal money is taxpayer money, which is everybody's money. If you think abortion is a private choice, then it makes no sense to involve the federal government and public money into this.
I'm watching Elizabeth Warren town hall on MSNBC. What a breath of fresh air. As far as Biden goes, I think he needs to withdraw. I don't expect that, though. He is too interested in being President Biden. He has lost any (tentative) support I had for him, though.
7
If there is no room in the party for pro-lifers, or even a pro-choice moderate, then I fear another loss to Trump in 2020. Federal funds should not be used for a procedure half of the country finds morally offensive. (As an aside, Ocasio-Cortez's remarks are nonsensical. No one is going to die because they can't have an abortion at 6 months. A C-section would be covered by Medicaid, even if it's a C-section for a dead baby.)
6
Old white man opposes the right of young women to make their own decisions about their bodies. Remind me, which party does Joe belong to again?
6
@Watty The use of federal funds which is taxpayer money has nothing to do with young women making decisions about their own body.
Remind me again, if you care so much about personal choice, why do you want to get the government and public money involved?
@Leouch
The legal right and the use of federal funds are linked for every other issue. You can get federal funds to buy a home, build a road, build a factory, and get an education. You can even get federal funds to make guns that kill people.
So what makes the legal right to abortion different?
1
If Democrats push for Biden to be the chosen one, I'm not going to do anything to stop Trump from getting a second term. After Obama's first term, I've stopped voting for the lesser of two evils which is how people like Hillary and Biden get elected. If I don't like the guy, he's not getting my vote period even if it leads to another four years of Trump.
5
The Hyde Amendment does nothing to prevent poor women from getting critical, medically-necessary health care.
What it does do is prevent taxpayer money from funding an elective procedure that the vast majority of Americans have legitimate moral conflicts over -- or who do not see government-funded violence (especially against those who have neither a voice or a choice) as a legitimate way to solve poverty.
3
Mr. Biden may very well understand, connect and empathize with people who are grieving over the death of a loved one, but he is totally out of touch and in a completely different hemisphere when it comes to women and the overall abortion picture.
Whatever political base he had or thought he had, just shattered into a million pieces like fine crystal hitting a marble floor.
I had a hunch it would only be a matter of time before he said or did something that would have potentially irrevocable implications, I just didn't think it would be this soon. He truly seems to be his own worst enemy.
I think today may be a permanent game changer in the Biden campaign.
8
"I'm the most progressive Democrat!"
Except when it comes to reproductive rights, diplomacy over war, mass incarceration, consumer financial protection, Anita Hill, using political influence for financial gain ...
9
The only way the Hyde amendment makes sense to me is if no elective procedures (cosmetic, weight loss, etc) are covered by medicare/medicaid. Otherwise elective abortion, as long as it is a legal procedure, should be covered. The equivocation has to stop. abortion is either legal or it isn't and federal healthcare assistance covers unnecessary surgical procedures or it doesn't. The political tapdancing is very unseemly.
10
@arusso Similarly, abortion is either completely a private matter that the government shouldn't get involved in, or it's a public matter that the government has the right to get involved in (and thus fund). We can't claim abortion is a private decision and then ask the government to use public funding to support it.
Yet another demonstration that Mr. Biden is a candidate for another time and culture.
It is an embarrassing shame that Mr. Biden is even in the race, never mind its front-runner.
8
It's strange how people don't see the glaring problem of using federal funding to pay for abortions. You're taxing tens of millions of people who are pro-life and using their taxes to fund abortions. The entire point of being pro-life is abortion is a PERSONAL decision that shouldn't involve others. Taxing other people to pay for an abortion completely destroys this boundary of being a personal decision and is no longer pro-choice.
5
The taxes are not yours. They belong to the Government. What is yours is the money that remains AFTER you pay your share. No issue there.
2
@Leouch
How about being taxed to provide weapons to Saudi Arabia to kill children in Yemen. Is that OK?
7
@Marco Avellaneda In case you don't know, the American government is answerable to its people and is supposed to represent everybody through officials the people elect. How the government spends its money IS a public concern. That's the entire point of having a democratic republican government and not an autocracy.
A lot of folks here are missing the point. People should have the right to get an abortion safely and legally if they want. That is pro-choice. However, they cannot and should not force someone else to support their abortion. Taxing everybody to fund and pay for someone's abortion is NOT pro-choice because it takes away the right to choose. People should not tell women what they can do with their bodies (assuming the fetus has not fully developed yet). Just like nobody should force OTHER people to pay for their abortions through taxes.
4
@Leouch
No, "pro-choice" confuses the issue. Abortion should be funded by all insurance, including public insurance paid for by government taxation, because abortion is last resort birth control. All women have the right to birth control because without it, women cannot participate fully or equally in society. Everyone pays taxes for programs they dislike; the religious right should not be allowed to carve out women's health care from taxation.
7
@Mary York Pro-Choice built its legitimacy by arguing that abortion is a private matter for the woman and the government should not get involved. You can't claim the choice is a private matter, but then want the government to start funding it with public funds. It's either a private matter paid for with private funds, or it's actually a public matter that involves public funds. If you want abortion to be a procedure funded by public taxpayer dollars, fine, then stop claiming abortion is entirely a private issue.
1
Either a candidate supports reproductive rights for all women or he/she does not. There is no middle ground. Joe Biden has made clear that he does not.
11
@Robin
Wrong. But if you want four more years of Trump and worse to come - it is your totally destructive choice.
@Robin
Can you say circular firing squad. Yeah.
1
@Michelle Teas If you look closely at my comment, you will see that I did not say I would not vote for Biden. I will vote for the Democratic nominee. However, I am certain that Biden will not secure the nomination. His era is over.
Biden represents the left leaning patriarchy. He is happy to impose his religiious beliefs on poor women. Taxes pay for plenty of things individuals object to like bombs and wars. Biden does not support or reflect the 21 Century Democrats. We can do better and he cannot win anyway.
7
@pat The pro-choice argument is that abortion is a personal choice that shouldn't involve others.
If you want to destroy that argument by using everybody's taxpayer money to pay for abortion, then you'll need to find a new argument.
2
It sadly appears that Mr. Biden does not understand the magnitude of this issue and that he is lost back somewhere in the 1980's when people thought they were forced to settle for the Hyde Amendment. He obviously has no concept of the harm the amendment has done to low-income families, women of color, and all women in general, or how it inconsistent it is with the spirit of Medicare for All or with the credibility of anyone who claims to support the rights of women.
7
Joe Biden, defeating himself in Presidential primaries since 1984.
6
Hear, hear!
1
Donald Trump or his ghost writer wrote "The Art of the Deal". Joe Biden or his ghost writer will write "The Art of to Put his Foot in his Mouth".
3
No big deal; women are lining up to hug Joe. "winning is the important" thing; Go Joe!
As stated many times, if men could get pregnant having an abortion would be the law of the land. I am sick and tired of these old men telling women what's best for them,
6
Others running can beat Trump. Joe is playing spoiler.
7
I like Joe Biden, but this is a bad decision. It rivals Bernie Sanders endorsement and support for candidates last year, who oppose abortion all together. Bernie said, " "If we are going to protect a woman's right to choose, at the end of the day we're going to need Democratic control over the House and the Senate, and state governments all over this nation," he said. "And we have got to appreciate where people come from, and do our best to fight for the pro-choice agenda. But I think you just can't exclude people who disagree with us on one issue."
@Joe Barnett
Not quite as cut 'n dried as you portray now is it.
Sanders was on a DNC *Unity* tour with Tom Perez helping Democratic's running for office. The Candidate in question was Health Mello. A Dem. Senator running for Mayor in Nebraska.
Yes, he was/is anti-abortion, attempting to pass legislation to such in '09.
He has also stated since, he's learned, and now “would never do anything to restrict access to reproductive health care.”
Believe? Don't believe…?!
Mello had earned a 100% approval rating from Planned Parenthood of Nebraska in 2015.
Mello’s campaign pointed to his support for Planned Parenthood ( and fought against defunding Planned Parenthood ), Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act when asked about his message for pro-choice progressive voters in the city.
Mello was running against a VERY Red Republican.
Should Dems have let this fight go because the D. didn't check all the boxes?!
Maybe...but you can't set legislation if you don't win.
“Our job at the DNC is to help Democrats who have garnered support from voters in their community cross the finish line and win ― from school board to Senate,” Perez said. “The biggest threat to women’s reproductive rights is the relentless Republican attacks on women’s health care, including legal, accessible abortion services. And I won’t let anyone get in the way of our fight to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Pelosi agreed.
Blue Dogs are part of the team.
Like it or not...
(Is Biden a Blue Dog?)
1
I am a pro-choice Democrat and incensed over the creep of right wing religious fundamentalism - including what just happened today with fetal tissue and research.
But in this day and age I am not going to make abortion or the Hyde Amendment the defining litmus test. Sorry. And I suspect there are quite a few others who feel the same way.
Abortion won't go away and pills are easier to get.
At this point I would rather the Democratic party as a whole clearly articulate their policies, progressive and otherwise, Time is a wasting and we are wasting precious time. That bloated abomination thrashes about on immigration and I haven't yet heard something substantive from us.
We need to win and have a big tent.
3
@Michelle Teas
When you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.
You're right on abortion though. The vast majority of people (not matter their politics) are against abortion being a decision solely between a woman and her doctor. They don't support late term abortions.
@Viv
Phoney Baloney. Don't give me that arrogant garbage. You have no idea how I think. But the opposition will scoop you up like a dream.
And you know what I stand for? Climate change and winning. Not whining. Winning.
2
The problem is that, since Reagan and perhaps before, the "values" electorate can sniff out wishy-washy Dems pandering to them. They prefer, actually, to vote for the other side who is generally meaner to poor women.
Bad move, Joe! You need to be thinking the same as your supporters. (Maybe they're now former supporters).
6
The paradox and perhaps the hypocrisy of the "progressive" position on this issue is that the basis of the right to terminate a pregnancy has been and remains a woman's constitutional right to privacy. Federal funds are public.
The government has no business paying for the exercise of a personal right--publishing a newspaper, buying a gun, aborting a fetus. Indeed, to involve the government in paying for abortions suggests that the state also has the authority to ban then them or decide who is allowed to have them. There is nothing intimate or deeply personal about getting a check from the United States.
3
@gary abramson I take it you are opposed to Medicare then since why on earth would we want the government paying for anyone's medical procedures?
3
With your logic the government should not pay for any medical procedures, medications, certainly not for viagra. That would include government paid medical insurance, including the military.
3
@JWyly The problem is pro-choice uses the argument that abortion is a personal decision that shouldn't involve others.
Nobody has used that argument for the other government programs.
And not everyone believes Viagra should be covered by govt insurance.
2
How many of the people fussing about the Hyde Amendment knew that it even existed? It's been in the law for 40 years and had gotten little attention up to now. You'd think it was something new.
4
A President Biden cannot alter the current Hyde Amendment. As before, the Republican Senate is unlikely to support a House repeal Bill (unless the Senate changes hands - unlikely.) This is a trick question which serves no purpose now except trolling the candidate.
4
I don't like Biden's stance on abortion funding, but I am amazed that so many people are willing to put him aside because of it. At least he is pro choice. Biden can be reasoned with, and Trump cannot.
I am astonished at those who say they will not support Biden if he is the Democratic nominee. That is as good as supporting Trump. IF you don't vote against Trump in 2020, then you will have no right to complain about his horrible policies. You made your decision already when you sat the election out.
4
@manuscriptman
You are not "pro choice" if you believe that the government has a right to get between a pregnant woman and her doctor. Either the choice is theirs, or it isn't.
Perhaps it should be more astonishing why people would vote for D, no matter what their policies were.
3
@manuscriptman I think your grossly underestimate how many of us are very willing to stop voting for the lesser of two evils even if Trump gets a second term. Voting for the lesser of two evils for the last 40 years has not really worked out. I'm not doing that anymore even if the guy in the White House is Trump.
1
@FrankM
I don't grossly underestimate people who are willing to sit out rather than take the lesser of two evils. I merely find such conduct inexcusable and irrational in the present circumstances.
This election is FAR different than ANY election we have ever had. This is not a vote for the lesser of two evils. It is literally a vote AGAINST the greatest evil our REpublic has faced since the Civil War.
The main objective to most people is to GET RID OF TRUMP. As unpalatable as Biden may appear to you, he is a WAY better choice than Trump, and getting rid of Trump is paramount.
Besides: Biden has a major advantage over Trump in that Biden is sane. ANY major Democratic candidate is loads better than TRump.
iF someone thinks that any reasonable candidate is NOT a clear improvement over Trump, I have to question whather they had any Democratic values in the first place.
1
This is why anointing a candidate too early is wrong. Democrats failed to see that in 2016. Even though she got the popular vote, HRC was hurt by some voter resentment and any competition was squelched too early. (Thanks, Debbie Wassermann Schultz).
Let’s allow the process to play out, the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates will emerge. We have a rich field of them, although for me, Biden has been the least worthy from the start, largely due to my support for Anita Hill’s attempt to spare us from having Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS and his complicity in stopping her.
11
We've been painfully reminded in the last few years that the most lasting impact of a presidency is Supreme Court picks.
What kind of person would President Biden pick, and how important would preserving Roe be to Biden's selection process?
I shudder to think about it.
5
A lot's been said to cast Joe Biden in an unflattering light, and that's only a reference to what Joe Biden has said himself.
With that in mind, it seems unfair to single Biden out, especially when there are over a dozen other errant political egos who would best serve us all by stepping aside.
Democratic candidates should be held to higher standards than decades of public name recognition. Look at what those qualifications wound up doing to the Republican Party.
Is it still possible for someone to be pro-choice, but anti-abortion?
Biden is trying to straddle the line. He wants to grant a choice, but he doesn't want to encourage abortions and thereby wants to treat it as an elective operation.
There is principle in his stance. The problem though is that our healthcare system is so broken that the withdrawal of federal funds means a practical ban on abortions for those who want them the most.
19
I think most citizens are pro-choice but anti abortion. We do not want to infringe on someone’s right to chose but are deeply uncomfortable with abortions. I think you are human to feel this way.
3
@Virgil Soames People can donate to Planned parenthood if they want to provide low cost abortions. The problem with using federal tax dollars to pay for abortions is you're basically forcing pro-life people to fund abortions. That kind of goes against the whole "pro-choice" idea that abortion is a personal decision and should not involve other people.
3
@Virgil Soames
Pro-choice but anti-abortion.
Upon reading that, I immediately thought two different things:
More WOMEN seem to support pro-choice and more MEN seem to support anti-abortion.
It also reminds me of someone asking if you are "only a little pregnant". Either you are or you aren't.
8
I am so disappointed to read this. I don't have a single litmus test for candidates; I have several. Unqualified support of reproductive rights is one of them, and that includes providing full and equal access to the full range of reproductive services on demand to all women.
Biden was my firm choice until today. If this article properly describes his current stance on the Hyde Amendment, then I cannot in good faith continue to support him. It pains me to say this, but Biden has lost my vote.
3
Pew polling shows that stances on abortion are almost indistinguishable between men and women. Furthermore, people of color are actually slightly *more* likely than white people to favor abortion restrictions.
It's true that "women of color will elect the next president of the United States"... and this play to the center by Biden is likely to fortify this support on the margins.
3
@Karl Johnstone You're telling me that minorities and people of color aren't all monolithic progressives like what some media articles claim, but are actually diverse people with different opinions and viewpoints?
I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell ya!
What rationale does he give for continuing to support the Hyde Amendment?
1
@Carol Davis What rationale is there to use public taxpayer funds to fund abortions? You're basically forcing tens of millions of pro-life people into paying for abortions. The rationale behind pro-choice has always been abortion is a personal decision that shouldn't be affected by others. Telling other people to fund somebody else's abortion destroys the foundation argument of pro-choice.
1
Forcing abortion opponents to subsidize abortion was one of the irritants than turned abortion into a big issue. There was good political reason to pass the amendment.
If Democrats think this is a big issue, why don't they set up a charity whereby the rich people in favor of abortion can subsidize the poor women?
3
If you believe this then the government should allow us all to pick and chose what we want our tax dollars to support. I don’t want to pay for sugar subsidies, for viagra, for war, for Trump’s visits to Maralago. I’m sure I can come up with more if you give me a few more minutes.
2
Many of the people saying they will NEVER support Biden because of this foible astonish me. At least Biden believes that women are entitled to get an abortion at all.
Congress, and not Biden, will be the ones to deal with this Bill.
Those of you who hate Biden enough to not vote if he is the nominee may as well vote for Trump.Please get your priorities sorted. You are saying that you are willing to chance DESTROYING THE REPUBLIC on an abortion FUNDING issue. Trump wants to ban ABORTION ENTIRELY.
If Biden gets the nomination, and you refuse to vote, PLEASE don't complain about the crazy things Trump will do in the next four years. You will be directly responsible for putting him back in office.
1
I don't agree with him, but I don't care. I want Trump out. Period.
26
@Suzy.....you don't care, you want Trump out?
Why are Americans faced with such disgusting choices? In the once world role model of a democacy?
It's a travesty.
Somebody always pays a high price in America the Beautiful -- or the Ugly.
In other democracies abortion rights and medical care for everyone no matter their income,are centrist accepted policies.
Their citizens aren't faced with having a dictator or losing basic human rights.
10
@Meredith
it doesn't work that way here and apparently wasn't an issue for those who chose not to vote.
@Suzy I agree with you. While I disagree with Biden on his position on this, he's a far better candidate than Trump. And I will vote for the strongest candidate who runs against him.
Yikes, I'm really struggling to see how I could consciously choose to vote for Biden if this is the case. Also, the video makes it clear that he heard the woman who asked him the question about the Hyde Amendment, how can his campaign seriously spin it any other way? Biden's really going to make this difficult for Democrats, isn't he?
2
The phrase “Federal Funds for Abortions” contrasts with the language about “Mexico City” rule, referring to organizations' range of services. The Hyde Amendment focus is on a patient's medical procedure and invites an inference that, without the ban, certain people can get (other) taxpayers’ money by running out and having abortions. (An old anti-poverty dog whistle?)
Forget about current “attempts to limit access to abortion,” Joe Biden. It's beyond attempts. Politicians overrule patients and their chosen medical, familial, religious, moral and social advisers.
The word “sabotage” is not casual or hyperbole. We can see incremental incursions (a) from attacks on abortions to attacks on birth control, (b) from limits on federal funding to limits regardless of who pays, (c) from forcing changes in organizations that have developed effective long term full services for women’s reproductive health so the organizations have fewer resources after picking up the damage done to other organizations by this sabotage. Right now even some domestic version of the “Mexico City rule” wouldn't work because we have sabotaged crucial organizations' “range of services.” Women’s medical care and lives are at risk.
It’s not enough to think about what you may “be open to,” Joe, it’s a trap and we’ve been sabotaged. This is a “she said,” many many she saids, and you need to listen, Joe Biden. Raise your voice for repealing the Hyde Amendment.
Does anyone remember Hubert Humphrey in 1968? If the Dems make the same mistake this time, we'll find out if the world can survive 4 more years of Trump.
3
If you’re still supporting Biden because he’s “electable” at least check your outrage at the door about those who continue to support Trump despite all of his scandals....
Biden after announcement:
Supports Hyde amendment (symptomatic of lifelong problematic stance on abortion)
Plagiarizes climate policy (my issue isn’t the lack of attribution, it’s that it meant nothing to him. He was just checking a box to address complaints on lack of policies)
Ignores criticism about inappropriate physical contact with girls and women - and makes jokes about it after saying he’s learned
Believes that the Republicans who didn’t work with Obama would work with him just fine (implicit acceptance of GOP racism + naive or dishonest)
Non-apology to Anita Hill. Continued refusal of personal responsibility
Is aggressively shielded from media and the public
Biden pre-announcement
Crusader against busing
Treatment of Anita Hill
1994 crime bill
Problematic stance on abortion
‘Senator from MasterCard’
Bankruptcy bill support to corporations over everyday Americans
Speech earning $200K to help a Republican beat a Democrat in Michigan
I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few of the running tally of Biden’s greatest hits... feel free to add on.
11
@Patrician
Don't forget the Iraq War.
1
Ah...Biden, the establishment Democratic. Middle ground, fence sitting. One step forward, two steps back.
Where as Sen. Sanders has been voting against the Hyde amendment since he got in the House back in '93. As he's continued to do so in the Senate. Bernie's M4A repeals the Hyde amend. and covers all Reproductive services.
https://votesmart.org/bill/3412/8932/27110/hyde-amendment#.XPgftPZFyQJ
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yw3gqy/hell-yeah-sanders-medicare-for-all-plan-would-guarantee-abortion-coverage
3
Biden's time has past and he cannot beat trump!
He needs to step aside and support one of the younger candidates who's positions are more in line with the values of younger voters and true progressives!
6
The interviewer said "Hyde amendment" and Biden claims he heard "Mexico City"? Is he lying or is he deaf?
1
@Karen
Old.
I hated him for Anita Hill and I hate him again now. Do not run, Joe.
4
I stood ny J. Biden until this moment. Keep abortion legal and medically supported and financed. Adios Joe.
2
Why should I, a taxpayer, pay for some woman's abortion especially if I am pro-life?!
2
Why should I, a taxpayer, pay for cluster bombs that murder Yemeni children?
Why should I, a non-farmer tax-payer, pay for the repeated welfare pay-offs to trump supporting farmers?
6
@MCH Why should I, a taxpayer, pay for your blood transfusion, especially if it's against my religion?!
2
@Watty You're not. But if even you did, it's to keep me alive and not to kill me.
Dear Joe,
You shelf life has expired. Quit the race as you bring nothing, and I do mean nothing of any benefit to the party. This 60+ year old liberal will not vote for you.
Three strikes and your out:
The way you treated Anita Hill
Your support for the Iraq war
Supporting the Hyde amendment.
Bye bye Joe.
4
Please go away Joe. You are not needed or wanted.
6
Biden #NotARealDemocrat
3
Bet Joe is A-OK with Medicaid covering Viagra.
Which it does.
12
The Hyde Amendment is a law, not a Constitutional Amendment, plainly based on a RELIGIOUS belief. As such, it would appear to violate the First Amendment prohibition on Congress passing any law that promotes any religion ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ... ").
If the Hyde Amendment stands, why should there not be other "amendments" that prohibit the government from spending money on subjects that some of us would rather not support? We all have our own "pet peeves" about money the government spends that we think is frivolous or worse.
11
@Joe From Boston The rationale behind pro-choice has always been abortion is a personal decision that shouldn't be affected by others. If you want to tax everyone to fund abortions, then you're basically acknowledging it's not a personal choice anymore and the current pro choice argument is defunct.
As Joe Biden said, the Hyde Amendment will not be overturned. This is one of the victories that was enacted for the pro life movement back in 1976 after the sad and unfortunate roe v Wade law was passed. Pro lifers would never allow this to be overturned and are working diligently and successfully to place restrictions on abortion.
2
Well, that decides it. I will NOT be voting for Joe Biden.
3
Biden has "evolved" on
gay rights/marriage
the disastrous crime bill that imprisoned many
the Iraq war
But somehow on abortion, he still wants to demonize low income women and deprive them of the right to rule their own bodies.
Shame.
14
@Cousy What does taxing other people and using their taxpayer dollars to fund abortions have to do with "depriving women of the right to rule their bodies"?
That's like saying the federal government is depriving me of my right to drive because it won't buy me a car.
1
There is nothing radical about repealing the Hyde Amendment. I am opposed to war but I don't have the ability to prevent my tax dollars from being used by the government in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, and the other places where we are involved in armed conflict. Neither should religious zealots be allowed to prevent any tax dollars from being used to pay for a legal medical procedure. Joe Biden will not get this lifelong Democrat's vote in the primary for this and other reasons. I'll support and vote for whomever gets the nomination but I will work hard during the primary to ensure that it is not Biden.
5
@Dianne Walsh In the US, the main rationale behind pro-choice has always been abortion is a personal decision that shouldn't be affected by others. If you want to tax everyone to pay for abortion, then you better start thinking of a new rationale for being pro-choice. .
Well I can now eliminate one more candidate from the possibles list. Sorry Joe but this effects most dramatically poor women. With all of the income inequality and wealth distribution problems in this country we can't keep sticking it to the poor. I just can't support your bid.
6
I’m surprised. I guess this was a calculated move. It sure seems like he’s given the other candidates a big fat target. We’ll see how it plays out, but it seems possible he might have made his first major mistake.
5
How far do Democrats compromise progressive values to get someone (Biden) elected? How is this any different than the Republicans abandoning their Christian ethics to retain support for Trump?
4
@Michael Biden is being logically consistent with pro choice if you think about it. The main rationale behind pro-choice has always been abortion is a personal decision that shouldn't be affected by others. If you want to tax everyone to pay for abortion, then that destroys the claim it is only a personal decision...
Why is the Hyde Amendment even considered a deal breaker for progressives? To the extent a candidate agrees that Roe v Wade is the law of land, which Biden does, shouldn’t that be the litmus test?
Using public taxpayer money to fund abortions, particularly those made through one’s own personal decision, means the government is requiring every taxpayer, including those those fervently disagree with the procedure, to actually participate in it. Its such a divisive change which has the potential to continue splitting the country apart.
Instead, increase federal funding for contraception to the poor. Being poor is no excuse for being irresponsible when you have affordable and federally accessible contraception available to you. I really believe you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere and really start holding people accountable for their actions.
The Hyde Amendment carve out for rape, incest and danger to the mother ensures the poor aren’t hurt when contraception becomes moot.
5
Do you know that contraception fails? Do you know that poor women would be forced to carry fetuses with horrible birth defects to term, with those newborns facing a near-certain painful death?
This is about access to a fundamental right of bodily integrity for ALL.
4
@Burgman
Plenty of people oppose what the government uses its budget. I bet you many more people object to the military-industrial complex funding, especially when the DND can't even pass a basic audit.
For people who are adamantly against abortion, what makes you think they'd be okay with handing out free birth control pills and contraceptives?
3
Fundamental right of bodily integrity for all? What does that even mean?
The right to an abortion is encoded in law, however, for anyone to exercise that right should not the public’s financial responsibility, especially when in doing so, it legitimately encroaches on someone else’s religious rights.
There must be a balance when personal accountability is introduced.
Btw, I’d extend the carve outs in the amendment to cover your cases around potentially disabled or unviable fetuses for poor women (if it isn’t covered already).
2
Not only is Joe Biden's current position on this issue at odds with the current Democratic Party platform and out of step with the rest of his party, he is out of step with the female voter!
The only dance step he seems to recognize is the waltz whereas the rest of us are dancing every thing BUT the waltz.
With all due respect, I am so tired of MEN telling WOMEN what they can and can not do with their own bodies.
63
@Marge Keller You're missing the point. People should have the right to get an abortion safely and legally if they want. That is pro-choice. However, they cannot force someone else to support their abortion. Taxing everybody to fund and pay for someone's abortion is NOT pro-choice because it takes away the right to choose. Nobody is telling women what they can do with their bodies in this situation. Just like nobody should force OTHER people to pay for their abortions through taxes.
2
@Leouch
Thank you for your well thought out response. But I do have a question. If a woman cannot afford to have an abortion, and the Federal Government is refusing to pay for an abortion, then isn't her "pro-choice" rights being denied?
8
@Marge Keller I would say yes since the government is willing to pay for her "choice" to continue the pregnancy but not her other option. It's unfair but progressives must realize that 1) Biden is likely the only candidate who can beat Trump if we stand together and refuse to be splintered off by Russian trolls attempting to enforce purity tests; and 2) he's far better than 4 more years of Trump and his judicial appointees. I'll take the status quo (Hyde) over what's coming any day. We can fight to eliminate Hyde later, there's a lot of work to be done in educating the rest of America.
2
If the Democratic presidential candidates want to make abortion rights the major crux of their 2020 campaign for his job, I doubt if Trump will object. Climate change can wait, I'm sure. No rush.
1
Even if he wins the primary he's going to lose the general.
The same Liberals that stayed home or voted for Trump in 2016 are going to do the same to Biden.
If I'm Trump I keep elevating Biden. Because he's going to beat him. Badly.
5
We have to wonder why he made the calculation to makes this announcement now? He's pro choice, are right to lifers really going switch to a Democrat because he supports the Hyde amendment? These people aren’t sensitive to nuance. Trump, gives them everthing. He wants to be a pro choice Democrat, and also throw the conservatives a bone. Did he calcualte the loss of Democratic votes, or people that will just stay home? If he get the nomination, Trump will eat sleepy Joe alive. Watch his numbers drop like a stone.
3
He just lost my vote.
10
This is just another instance of how women's reproductive rights are being eroded in the US. Shame on Joe Biden! It is quite frightening to watch the current politics of misogyny being supported by many candidates of both parties. And this affects all women regardless of colour or class.
7
This is going to be the Democratic party's candidate? God help us, if Uncle Joe is all we've got, get ready for four more years.
3
Joe Biden was never Presidential material; this just demonstrates why.
15
Joe just LOST my vote.
46
@Elizabeth Donald Trump thanks you.
3
@Leouch
You should thank Joe Biden for giving Trump the opportunity to thank the OP.
1
Well, this decides my vote. I refuse to vote for anyone who favors a bill that directly and disproportionately harms poorer women. Who are these monsters who feel compelled deny choice and destroy actual lives to save the theoretical life of an unborn fetus? And why does it seem these hypocrites all run for political office?
I sincerely hope this destroys Biden's presidential bid.
14
Joe Biden still supports the banning of federal funds for abortions with"exceptions for cases involving rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger."
I guess his stronger-than-expected Democratic front-runner status is be slipping through his fingers like fine, white sand.
I wonder how the "misstep" or “mischaracterization of his position” will read.
4
Only in America can a person have a Constitutionally protected right that the reactionary Christians in government feel free to violate under color of law.
9
For a brief moment, I thought Democrats' determination to oust President Trump had miraculously enabled Joe Biden to bridge the chasm between the party's progressive and centrist wings. But no. The Democrats remain deeply divided. If Joe Biden continues down this path, 2020 may offer a replay of 2016, when many progressives refused to support Hillary Clinton. Biden, like Clinton, represents the Democratic Party's establishment, big donors, and centrism. He has had his moment in the sun, but his statement about abortion may mark the beginning of his eclipse.
19
@Chris Rasmussen At least you are honest enough to admit that "progressives" staying home sank Hillary and gave us the horror of Trump. Congratulations. It's Trump who has put Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, setting in motion the possible rollback of abortion rights. It's Trump who is trying to defund Planned Parenthood. And it's Trump who with another four years in the White House will probably name two more Justices, giving the Court a solid reactionary majority.
3
@Chris Rasmussen
Then progressives are morons. And much more change can be impacted on the ground than in the White House.
1
@John Burke
So the 96 million that didn't vote are all *progressives*?! Or were they just a small part of that subset?!
How about the 10 million DINO's that flipped to Trump; they didn't sink Hillary?! Or do you suppose that they too are all *progressives*?!
Really?! C'mon.
Or...maybe She that must not be criticized, Ms. her turn of the Coronation, had multiple reasons why she lost. Many of which were her own doing alongside her campaign?!
Hmm...I wonder which one of these many reasons hold the most weight/percentage of fault?!
Ah...right...it's always the *Lefties* fault according to some Dems. Never mind.
By the by...I noticed you didn't disagree with Chris's overall comment. Biden is Clinton 2.0 ( or maybe it is 5.0? His previous 2 failed attempts, plus Hillary's 2...?)
3
The current Democratic party, as evidenced over and over again by Mr. Biden, isn't the party people think it is when they hear the word "Democrat." These days, it's more accurate to call it the "Moderate Republican Party," for whom this announcement makes perfect sense. This is further evidence that if progressives really want to have a voice, they are going to have to either take back control of the party or form a new one.
10
The Hyde amendment affects women and the poor (often but by no means exclusively people of color). Two critical Democratic constituencies. That's quite a political feat. It calls his candidacy into serious, even fatal, question.
37
I’m sure all those older Black church going women in Southern primary states are going to support your argument that government funded abortion on demand is a matter of social justice. Same with those Evangelical and Catholic Hispanic voters in the West and Texas.
The fact that “progressives” think their positions are mainstream rather than zealotry is because they live in a bubble of self-reinforcing cable news, Twitter feed, and Facebook commentary. Elective abortion is controversial enough without adding the issue of government funding.
Women, minorities, and the poor aren’t of one view on every aspect of abortion policy. Just consider the issue of elective third trimester abortion, post viability where there is no risk to the mother or fetal defect. NARAL and the progressives want government to fund it. Good luck selling that to voters.
3
Okay, up until this minute I've been thinking that Biden is credible, even if he is not my first choice. Now? Forget it.
I.Will.Not.Vote.For.Biden.
95
@Cousy
What does "credibility" have to do with it? He was telling the truth about his position, unlike a certain politician in Washington..
3
@Cousy
So are you going to vote for Trump if Biden gets the nomination? That will CERTAINLY ensure that women's rights are respected.
Biden can be reasoned with Trump cannot.
4
@Cousy You will vote for Biden if he's the candidate. Or would you rather have 4 more years of Trump?
4
As Senator Bernie Sanders said, there is no middle ground on the politics of abortion. In the words of America's greatest songwriter: Say it isn't so, Joe. Say it isn't so.
55
@Diogenes
Sanders is quite wrong in the indicative mood, though he's really speaking in the subjunctive mood. There's a lot of Americans occupying the supposedly missing middle ground.
@Karl
The heck with Bernie. And what good did he do us last time?
1
@Diogenes
Diogenes, turn your lamp up a bit--it was a heart-broken kid fan who said that to Shoeless Joe of the Black Sox when they threw the 1919 world series, right?
3
Joe Biden should have the courage and integrity to leave the Democratic party and join the Republican party because that is what he is, stealth Republican wearing a Democrat's garb. No wonder, Obama chose him to be his VP. Republican voters would not vote for Biden if he runs as a Republican because they don't trust him. And neither should Democrats. We had had enough of these fence sitters in the Democratic party, along with the Boll Weevils, who have misguided the Nation and the Democratic voters for a long time.
41
Say it ain't so, Joe. Might as well be a Republican. Women, we've got work to do. We are the majority, we shouldn't have to beg and plead for our Rights, and our Lives.
ENOUGH.
66
"Joe Biden Still Supports Hyde Amendment, Which Bans Federal Funds for Abortions" Well, I was willing to make some compromises, with the goal of Democrat victory in 2020, but I'm afraid this is the game changer for me. NO WAY, JOSE(ph)! No compromise when it comes to a woman's right to choose. I was a envisioning a Biden/Warren ticket, but that's now DOA.
46
@AEK in NYC
Great. So if he gets the nomination and you don't vote for him, don't complain about what the monster currently in the White House does.
1
@manuscriptman Don't worry, I'm disappointed, but I ain't crazy. If Joe Biden gets the nomination, then he gets my vote. With Elizabeth Warren as his running mate, maybe he'll eventually see the light.
How disappointing. It was difficult enough to rationalize his condescending questioning of Anita Hill, in order to support what seemed like the best candidate to beat Trump. But this stance becomes a deal-breaker.
Keep your religious beliefs to yourself, Mr. Biden, and don't have an abortion. Let the rest of make our own choices - especially disadvantaged women who have so few choices to begin with.
129
@Dawn You're missing the point. People should have the right to get an abortion safely and legally if they want. That is pro-choice. However, they cannot force someone else to support their abortion. Taxing everybody to fund and pay for someone's abortion is NOT pro-choice because it takes away the right to choose.
2
@Leouch
Actually you're missing a very big point. Looking at it another way: "Taxing everyone to fund and pay for someone's" ... war, for example, takes away MY right to choose not to contribute to it. It went against all my principles during Vietnam and Iraq, but I still had to pay my taxes.
What government chooses to do with my tax dollars was never an "a la carte" right. My "right to choose" in that sense is to vote for people who will use the funds according to the way I look at things. Hence: Biden.
12
@Leouch
Bravo.
Joe Biden is a fine Human Being, he is honest, loving, empathetic and bright. His is not Presidential material. This is not Joe Biden's world. The country he loves no longer exists and reconciling his supporters with an opposition that hates compromise and the politics of compromise and finding the least odious solution pleases no one.
I like all the Democratic candidates but I do not believe the USA as presently constituted can ever be a force for better for its citizens or for the world. I hate the madness that infects your President and the men around him. I hate neoliberalism and believe government has a fiduciary responsibility to protect its citizens from a private sector run amok with unchallenged power. I do not appreciate your President and his madness but I believe sometimes you don't get what you want you get what you need and Trump yells loudly and clearly America does not work. Why is no one listening? Denial will not change reality.
6
@Montreal Moe You said it best about Biden.
Trump says America is not working and he's making it worse by dismantling the parts that still work.
Let's just say that the US, and to a large measure the Democrats, got what they deserved.
So far (if Biden is their "frontrunner") it has not been enough to wake them up.
4
This will for many be the last straw in supporting Old Joe...
He is not representing the beliefs of more than half of his constituency on this issue.
This will make me actively support his defeat and removal from Democratic politics!
We do not need any more Old White Men deciding on Womens' rights!
Oh, please, Nancy Pelosi, step up to the Presidential podium...and lead with a powerhouse promise of a young vital VP and a dynamic cabinet of otherwise presidential contenders. That's how we win 2020 and the Senate!
Bye, Bye Biden!
8
I don't know who I support just yet, but I now know for sure it won't be Biden.
44
It is good to contrast this with Sanders's Medicare4All bill that covers abortion care, ending Hyde amendment etc.
16
Joe Biden has an old fashioned idea of men being chivalrous to women and its natural ally - control of women and their bodies.
Joe is a conservative Roman Catholic who is against abortion and against women's rights. The way in which he touches women serves to enforce his idea of male superiority. We have enough of those RC guys - 2/3 of our Supreme Court Justices - on the national stage.
I don't know why polls keep being made which show Joe as the front runner for the Democratic nomination for President. To me, he is the most backward potential candidate and the one who is least likely to win. He's already lost TWO presidential campaigns. All he has is name recognition because he was Obama's VP.
Democrats will commit political suicide if they nominate Old Loose Hands Joe as the candidate against Donald Trump. Joe is even older than Donald Trump. There are many, many excellent well-qualified Democrats running for president - 24 at last count. We need a younger, more savvy candidate. Name recognition means nothing at this point.
Splitting votes among so many relatively unknowns may put Joe as the most recognizable but he has a long track record of stupid remarks and actions which make him unsuitable to be president. He makes terrible decisions under pressure (see Anita Hill).
Are Russian bots pushing Joe as the best and most electable Democratic nominee? I see no other reason for him to be the nominee. The Democratic candidate must appeal fo women voters. That's not Joe.
39
Trump wants to Make America Great by going back to 1955. Biden wants to Make America Great by going back to 1985. Who wants to Make America Great by going forward to 2025?
80
@Walter Bruckner yyyyassssss!!
@Walter Bruckner
We are assuming voters will do what we want. Bubble world.
I'm an old white guy, about the same age as Biden, a life-long Dem, and I'd rather vote for AOC than Biden. Really. AOC strikes me as genuine, connected, unpretentious, smart, funny. And more. Go away, Joe. Thanks for your service, but, go away.
85
@Cody McCall She's not running, but Sanders is. He inspired this new generation. One of them will be ready in 4 years to take up where Bernie leaves off.
2
@Cody McCall
I love AOC but the republicans would savage her. And too many morons would listen.
1
The Hyde amendment is the single most damaging piece of legislation of the later 20th century.
24
" affects poor women and women of color"
so did the Iraq war.
I am sure Joe will vote to pay for maternity leave and then subsidize their children for the rest of their lives.
If it is that important.
I will not vote for Joe Biden or a religious (catholic) based government.
16
This is unacceptable. Period. If you do not understand this, whether because you do not understand that it is a basic violation of the rights of all women or that you understand and do not care, we all he need you to stop this and go home. Thank you.
28
@Jay S
That attitude will cost us the election. No thanks.
He seems like a 20th century guy in a 21st-century world. Will the Democrats primary him out of contention?
14
He's against it. No, he's for it. No, you didn't hear him right. Well...if all the states make it illegal then he's against it again. For me, although abortion is an important issue, and concern for the lives and health of poor women is too, a man who flips and flops according to what his handlers are suggesting is not being authentic and honest with himself or the electorate. Like many, I'd vote for him against 45, but he's lost my primary support. See what happens the minute you let him speak? Now we know why they've kept out of Town Halls and TV Interviews.
15
Just another sign that Biden is like Clinton --a 1970 era Rockefeller Republican. Biden and his pack have specialized in negotiating the best terms of surrender for a generation. Time to move on, Pop!
No, we don't negotiate with paleoconservatives. Strong progressive policies with no apologies . . . win or lose.
25
@KCox . . . I think you you insult a lot of "Rockerfeller Republicans." Jacob Javits, John Heinz, etc., were not culture warriors. Biden is simply a "new" (i.e., corporate) Democrat. We shouldn't want him and he wouldn't win.
2
Biden has a long history of sticking his foot in his mouth. This is yet another example. He will lose much support over this.
15
Biden- A do-little-or-nothing politician in do-something times. He has always been late to the dance and only begrudgingly will he assume [never really embrace] a progressive position. He is only now getting to where Sanders has been for two generations. Iʻm not sure Biden's time is past or it never really was his time. Always bringing up the rear. He was only ever qualified to be Obama’s maître d′ or perhaps his greeter.
9
This kind of attack article is why Democrats will lose to Trump. All this propaganda about discriminating against the poor is laughable. They’re receiving heavily subsidized to free medical care. There isn’t much popular support for government paid elective abortion on demand. All health insurance including Medicaid already covers multiple versions of birth control, including long acting forms.
Pulling every insane far left position into the Democratic primary is basically a way to lose voters. If you want to have an elective abortion, that’s your choice. But expecting government to pay for it, that’s still a controversial proposition for most.
You’re deluded if you think NARAL, Ocasio-Cortez, or the “progressives” represent the majority of Democratic voters. Their natural home is in third party Communist, Socialist, and Marxist groups, but they’ve decided to try to co-opt a mainstream party instead.
1
@H Lot of Fox New buzz words there. Repeal of the Hyde Amendment would not bring about “abortion on demand,” whatever that means. And you do realize that Medicaid is a federally financed program at the heart of the Hyde Amendment? Or maybe you don’t.
Your condescending response is uneducated. The Hyde Amendment originally only covered federal funding for Medicaid. But it’s been expanded to cover appropriations for the Indian Health Service, CHIP, and other federal programs. Similar restrictions apply to federal health spending for the military, prisons, federal employee health benefits, etc.
But you realize these are only restrictions on federal funding. Remember Medicaid is a joint state and federal program, so states can still fund abortions. Some states and localities do fund abortions beyond those allowed by the Hyde Amendment. Remember that the Hyde Amendment still allows federal abortion funding in cases of rape, incest, and the woman’s life. If you want government funded elective abortion on demand, try your luck with state government. Or better yet, put your money where your mouth is and privately fund it.
2
Joe, you are not inevitable and this manspeak will haunt you.
20
Thank you Joe. Abortion is a divisive issue, and claiming that not only should it be legal, but that the federal government should pay for the procedure is not a position that the country is ready to accept. Folks, try to understand, even a little bit, even if just for a moment, that large numbers of people disagree with you on this issue.
10
@DRS
All we need is 50% + 1
@DRS I understand that large numbers of people disagree, I just don't understand why they don't mind their own business. A woman's health is her own personal decision. Case closed.
2
@DRS You don't speak for the country. You have presented an unsupported non-argument. Try to understand, even a little bit, even if just for a moment, that large numbers of people disagree with you on this issue.
This is a big surprise to me as I though Biden was firmly pro-choice and all for helping the poor. I don't understand his thinking on this and firmly believe he needs to explain it.
If pro-choice women knew of his stance on this I wonder if it would be a deciding factor in their selection of a Democratic candidate?
45
@Leouch
I understand your feelings but the reality is that tax payers have to pay for many things they don't like or think immoral - like caging kids and capital punishment and wars among many others. None of these are anything I want to support.
Since abortion is legal, it is unfair to deny access to poor women because you personally don't like it.
while I personally have no problem with federal fund paying for abortions, I recognize that many of my fellow country-men and women object to abortion on moral grounds. let's all be honest it is not an easy issue and one that resists compromise. yet perhaps this is one place compromise can be made: not imposing on everyone having their tax dollars fund abortion. surely a charity could be established specifically to make up the slack and ensure that women who wish to have an abortion can get private funding. Biden may not be perfect but may be our best choice for the next four years. honestly I was sickened by reports of party extremists at the California convention booing candidates who had the good sense and guts to say universal health care may not be best achieved by "medicare for all" a simple minded slogan that by the way rhymes with another simple minded slogan "build a wall"
7
@EDT I tell you what - stop using my tax dollars for wars, and I'll agree to let you stop using your tax dollars for abortion. Fair enough?
3
@EDT
Sure...just like we can set up a charity for HealthCare too.
In fact, 1 out of 3 GoFundMe's are medical needs already. Too bad 45,000 die ea. yr. from lack of coverage and 1 million declare med. bankruptcy. Lets tinker around the edges some more. Too bad for you the 32 million not covered. We'll just continue to pay double the costs with worse outcomes 'cause it's too hard to fight for what's right. We got ours; so...too bad for you.
Best set up your Med. GoFundMe now America.
It's just good sense and guts.
USA~! usa. u..s...never mind.
2
I hate to say this because I'm trying not to criticize any Democratic candidate, but this is a less extreme version of Donald Trump's obsession with Japan as a trade foe and the guilt of the Central Park Five--he formed his views decades ago and hasn't realized that it's time to move on. Biden is probably acting in good faith where Trump is really not, but he just doesn't realize that times have changed and the Overton window has shifted. To him, support for terrible policies like the Hyde Amendment is probably just a grim fact of life as a Democrat.
1
Old Joe is not going to lead Democrats to electoral success.
Like Hillary, he will not inspire voters to back him.
Too many will sit out the election.
24
@Technic Ally
We will see who gets the Democratic nomination. However, whoever that person is will be MUCH better than Delusional Donnnie.
That is an easy call - just VOTE a straight Democratic ticket on November 3, 2020.
Vote out EVERY Republican. EVERY. LAST. ONE.
Vote like our democracy depends on it, BECAUSE IT DOES.
@Technic Ally
I really wish people would stop trying to speak for others and let just folks think for themselves -- especially when they aren't even in this country and their prognostications involve any mention of voters sitting out the election.
Do you read the news???
We don't have that option.
1
God, he looks so old. Here is the calculus at its most basic: if you are a young progressive (which most young people are), would you rather hold your nose and kneel to the wisdom of your 80 year old grandparents who drove the economy into the dirt and hoard all the possible benefits from it that they can at the expense of your younger years which have for less opportunity and stability than theirs----or would you rather let Trump win, wait another 4 years for a chance to get another younger progressive in the White House who can take the generational torch from Sanders.
If you vote for Biden, you will not be able to get a progressive in the white house for a minimum of 8 years. Moreover, that election 8 years from now will be a far more difficult election to win--because a Biden presidency will likely incur a recapturing of the resentment that propelled Trump to the White House after the Obama years, because Obama was not sufficiently progressive enough. Biden is less progressive and you will likely be facing a resurgent right wing candidate who takes a lot of the younger voters who are currently identifying as progressive liberals but could EASILY become economic isolationist and nationalists.
That answer is a difficult one for young people to answer, and its why push comes to shove Biden cannot count on the turnout of young people that he will need to beat Trump, because the logic points to it being better long-term to just wait it out. Biden is a guaranteed loss
13
@nickgregor Not all older people are for Biden. I'm 52, my husband is 69, my mother is 81 and my two sisters are 53 and 55. We all support Bernie Sanders and his progressive agenda, along with Elizabeth Warren.
What you post resonates with me, but I fear four more years of Trump, so I will ultimately vote for whomever is the Dem nominee. I will hold my nose to do so, if it's Joe Biden or Delaney or Hickenlooper, but I'll do it. And I'll be doing it for my kids and future grandkids. We must rid the stain of Trumpism.
13
@nickgregor
I'm 67 and I'm doing the same calculation and arriving at the same answer: better to lose 2020 and get a true progressive in 2024 than to get a "triangulation expert" in 2020.
@nickgregor
Yiou can't SERIOUSLY believe that anything is worth four mor years of Trump. What makes you think that there will BE a country or that you will be ALLOWED to vote if Trump is reelected?
No litmus tests. No candidate is perfect. Defeating Trump is paramount. I see Biden defeating Trump.
3
@Dan
Doubtful . .
@KCox . . . Biden winning against Trump is doubtful because you have far left progressives attacking Biden for having moderate centrist views and trying to swing the party to the hard left.
1
In a time of crisis, why do people support a person who stands for the status quo? If the Dems nominate Biden to represent them in Nov. 2020, they will lose, again. We need big change in this country. I hope people will vote for the person who best represents their values and not someone they, "think" can beat Trump. We already tried that and failed.
21
Biden's position is in line with the mainstream. It's one of the reasons he's polling around 32%, and Gillibrand is polling at zero percent.
5
@RP Smith
This isn't about Gillibrand. She's toast. But literally every single other candidate would get rid of Hyde.
And what of Biden's remarks that he now opposes Hyde? Is it a hearing problem, forgetfulness or a lie?
10
@Cousy
Maybe it's just a case of too many rushing to judgement and the fact that he hasn't had a chance to fully explain his position on the matter.
1
@RP Smith Got anything to back up that "in line with the mainstream" claim?
Old Joe just lost me. If Old Joe still supports the Hyde Amendment, he really hasn't changed. He's still the Old Joe of Ages Past...
64
Get ready for the circular firing squad. Unfortunately led by progressives who increasingly prove they have no tolerance for any voices other than their own.
No doubt the topic of abortion issue is a hot-button issue these days, especially with some states banning it altogether recently and a Supreme Court bench looking more and more like this administration's right-conservative-evangelical agenda.
Ultimately all this discord around Biden's comments will only play into the hands of Republicans who are already champing at the bit to take potshots at any Democratic candidate -- particularly if they might prove to be a potential challenge.
Ready...aim...
11
@N. Smith - Our problems are fundamental. The future of our country - of the world - is not a game. There is zero point to electing another conservative, corporate Democrat (assuming that such a person would win, which Hillary's defeat pretty much proved. Trump is a symptom. He is not the disease. We need to cure the disease.
1
@N. Smith,
Biden's support of the Hyde Amendment is commendable, but falls short of denouncing abortion altogether, and for that reason he deserves evangelical ire.
2
@Southern Boy
And you know as well as I do that Biden's position is the exact SAME as this president's, his administration's, the Supreme Court judges he's putting on the bench, and just about every Republican in the Senate.
As for "evangelical ire" -- their hypocrisy deserves the ire of anyone who thinks women deserve the right to make decisions over their own bodies.
2
Joe Biden is simply taking the positions he needs to take to win the electoral votes required to elect a Democratic President. All the other contenders would rather please Democratic primary voters and lose the general election. Warts and all, Biden is the only choice for Democrats that want to regain the White House.
18
@Richard - Says who? Did anyone think that Donald Trump was electable? I have a feeling that in 2020, bold will win over moderate, whatever the party affiliation.
25
@Richard Essentially you are saying we need another Clinton to win. Because obviously a centrist with no true beliefs and no message but with big donors and top political consultants always wins the day. Wait a minute. Biden represents at most his wallet and his donors'. The sooner he retires, the better.
23
@Richard
This is not a choice. Democrats need a candidate with a vision for the 21st century America. We need to contest the Trump base on every issue.
14
As a life-long Democrat that's the log that breaks my camel's back. I'll support and vote for whomever gets the nomination but I hope it's not Biden.
84
@Richard Schumacher I'm a Joe Biden fan but I don't think he's the president we need. Someone younger with fresh ideas (and maybe a different gender) that will capture the imagination of voters.
13
@Richard Schumacher
I am glad that Biden is not your choice but I wouldn't vote for him even if he is the candidate. We may have wait for us to hit the bottom and then we will rise.
6
@Subhash
Then if you don't vote for WHOEVER gets the nomination, you will CERTAINLY be enabling Trump. By enabling four more years of TRump because Biden did not see things 100 percent your own way, you are agreeing to empower the orange monster fro four more years. Don't complain if you get what you wish for.
3
Biden's time has come and gone. His views and policies are not reflective of today's Democratic Party. It's shameful to support the Hyde Amendment which disproportionately hurts women of color and others without the means to take control of their health care.
92
@Jacquie
" His views and policies are not reflective of today's Democratic Party."
At a time when defeating Trump is crucial, is this the time for Democrats to make abortion funding a litmus test?
4
@Charlesbalpha We need to progress forward not return to the past.
1
Yet one more time that Biden shows he will hard to support the needs of his wealthy donors and will turn away from the needs of those who have no political voice.
We don't need a religious zealot in the White House who wants to impose his religious beliefs on the American people, particularly women. It's bad enough with the one we have in there already, and he doesn't even believe any of what he preaches.
67
@avrds
Good grief.
Now there's news that Biden plagiarized parts of his climate proposal. This was supposed to be his big plan to stay abreast of the big issues of importance to Democrats.
And he couldn't even that one right? And he is still the front runner?
There's something seriously wrong with this picture.
3