On September 17, 2015, Joe Biden spoke on abortion and reproductive rights with American Magazine in the Office of the Vice President:
“I’m prepared to accept as a matter of faith, my wife and I, my family, the issue of abortion, but what I’m not prepared to do is to impose a precise view that is born out of my faith on other people who are equally God-fearing, equally as committed to life, equally as committed to the sanctity of life. I’m prepared to accept that at the moment of conception there’s human life and being,” he said at the time, “but I’m not prepared to say that to other God-fearing, non-God-fearing people that have a different view.”
In May and June of 2019, Biden’s positions came into question because of contradicting comments. On May 4, when asked about the Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, Biden said “it has to go.” On June 5th, however, Biden’s campaign confirmed that he still supported the Hyde Amendment. After coming under fire for his position flip, Biden clarified that he did still support Hyde and had simply misheard the woman in the May 4th video. He had thought she was referring to the Global Gag Rule, which bans federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals, advocate to decriminalize abortion, or expand abortion services, a rule he does in fact want to abolish.
“For many years as a U.S. senator, I have supported the Hyde amendment as many, many others have because there was sufficient monies and circumstances where women were able to exercise that right, women of color, poor women, women were not able to have access, and it was not under attack … as it is now. But circumstances have changed,”
