Last week former Vice President and leading Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden flip-flopped on his support of the Hyde Amendment, the 1970’s legislation which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy results from incest or rape.
Abortion and related healthcare services can be costly; therefore, this amendment significantly affects poor women and women of color.
“The problem is, the Hyde Amendment affects poor women, women of color, Black women, Hispanic women. And women of color will elect the next president of the United States.” – Patti Solis Doyle, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton in 2008
Patti Doyle is right, yet Biden remained consistent in his support of the amendment. His opponents, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, lined up to criticize his stance and support for the bill. And before the end of the week, after initially doubling down in support of the bill, Biden reversed his stance and denounced his support.
“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.” – Joe Biden
Biden has a long documented history of defending this bill often citing his Catholic faith and that he doesn’t believe taxpayers who don’t believe in abortion should be forced to pay for them. So we should believe that he quickly realized this amendment disproportionately impacts poor women and women of color, many of whom are Democratic voters, amidst many of these Republican abortion bans sweeping the nation, and therefore he no longer supports it? A moral conundrum, maybe. Either way, after supporting a bill for 40+ years, it’s a stretch to believe he had a change of heart within 48-72 hours. Clearly, winning the Democratic nomination is more important, and that’s politics.
But this isn’t the first time he’s been on the wrong side of politics and history specifically in regard to women of color and disadvantaged communities… his troubling comments on desegregation and busing, his treatment of Anita Hill, and his role in the 1994 crime bill, just to name a few. Add the Hyde Amendment to that list.
The nostalgia of Biden serving as VP for the nation’s first Black President should take a back seat to many of his actions and legislative decisions over his political career, actions and decisions which have negatively impacted the Black community. Considering the Hyde Amendment negatively affects the same groups of people he depends on for votes, poor women and women of color, a Democrat supporting this bill for decades is inexcusable and not worthy of the highest office in the land.