During the 2020 campaign season, then-candidate Joe Biden stood on the stage with other hopefuls and appeared downright centrist. It’s not difficult to appear even slightly less extreme when sharing the platform with Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris. In the end, the Democratic Party knew that Biden was the safest choice to face the Republican opposition in a general election. But though he is to the right of some of his political peers, Biden is no centrist, including on the issue of abortion.
Of the two candidates on last November’s ballot, President Donald Trump was the clear pro-life choice. His record for protecting the unborn through his actions and that of nominating right-leaning justices to the Supreme Court is stellar. He was even the first president to attend the March for Life physically. His pro-life work during his term should be commended.
Soon after taking office, Biden started to undo his predecessor’s work. On Jan. 28, the president revoked the “Mexico City policy,” one that Trump had reinstated. The policy prohibits foreign aid from going to organizations that perform abortions or provide services that promote them. How a president treats the policy, which was first implemented by President Ronald Reagan, sets the tone for their treatment of the abortion issue while in office.
Over the decades, Biden has been known to support the Hyde Amendment. The policy keeps federal funds from being used to pay for abortion. As a candidate, he reversed course and signified support for striking it down. Now that Democrats control both houses of Congress, the likelihood that the Hyde Amendment will disappear increases. In December, Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro said, “The time has come in this current moment to reckon with the norm, with the status quo. The Hyde Amendment is a discriminatory policy.”
The amendment protects taxpayers who morally oppose abortion from indirectly funding them. Eliminating this long-standing policy is an affront to the pro-life community and to average people who would rather not see federal funds used in this way. Getting rid of the Hyde Amendment would indicate a major departure from the pro-life policy that has remained for decades through both Republican and Democratic administrations. It would be an obvious, national shift to the left.
While Biden speaks of promoting unity and finding common ground, his words and actions say otherwise. Only a few days after his oath of office, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the White House released a statement signaling the administration’s intentions concerning the 1973 decision. It reads, in part, “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.” On the campaign trail, Biden said as much about his desire to codify Roe v. Wade. If successful, abortion restrictions passed in individual states would encounter difficult legal challenges. This is a clear targeting of states’ rights, among other things.
In addition, House Democrats are reportedly seeking to increase access to the abortion pill, stating in a letter to the Food and Drug Administration that it must “immediately eliminate the medically unnecessary in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.” Ironically, lawmakers use the excuse of a deadly pandemic as a reason to allow easier access to a life-ending medication. This is the mindset behind the current Democratic majority in Congress.
Biden may be an older member of his own party, but he represents the more liberal members with his words, actions, and mindset. Protecting unborn life in the United States should be a goal of the federal government. Sadly, it is not. When it comes to the issue of abortion, the current administration has made its desires clear.
Eliminating financial restrictions and making it harder for states to set their own laws is neither centrist nor anything resembling an attempt at unity. The Democratic Party knows that with Biden in the White House, its plans for expansion of anti-life policies will surely be realized.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
