While Joe Biden's flip on the Hyde Amendment appeared sudden and surprising, The New York Times reported it came because of lobbying, political backlash, and a call from ally Sen. Chris Coon, D-Del.
Ostensibly, former Vice President Biden did what he has done for years, according to the Times' report by Katie Glueck, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns: "ultimately shifted in order to meet the mood of emergency within his party's electoral base."
"His sudden turnaround illustrates his larger challenge as he runs for president for a third time: With his long legislative record, and instinct for moderation and consensus, he is running headlong into an energized base that has grown far more liberal in the decade since he became vice president," they wrote in the Times report.
"And his initial reluctance and then hasty acquiescence on Hyde also underscored the degree to which his own impulses are driving the campaign as he grapples with how to retain what he and his advisers believe is his biggest asset — his reputation for authenticity — amid the scrutiny and pressures he faces as the front-runner."
Despite the timeline laid out in the Times report, a Biden campaign staffer disputed the notion his position change came because of political pressure.
"He came to this decision on his own, nobody pushed him," Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., Biden's campaign co-chairman told CNN.
The Hyde Amendment banning federal funding for abortions had the support of the devoutly Catholic Biden, but he acquiesced on that support because it conflicted with his platform stance of healthcare as a "right" and not something that could be banned from state to state.
"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," Biden told a dinner this week, per the report.
The Times report laid out a number of pressures Biden faced, including women on his own campaign staff, criticism from his Democratic primary opponents, and Planned Parenthood lobbying his staff.
"With these state laws moving quickly and these anti-choice judges being named, it's important for us to articulate that we oppose the Hyde Amendment," Sen. Coons told the Times of his position expressed to Biden before the switch.
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