Biden has supported the Hyde Amendment forever and said so earlier this week. But under attack from his fellow guy and gal candidates, Biden flip-flopped Thursday saying he could no longer support the Hyde Amendment. It bars federal funds for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother. Abortion proponents say the Hyde Amendment is unjust because it keeps poor women from getting an abortion. Abortion opponents say using tax dollars to pay for abortion make them complicit in killing the unborn... til now the courts have agreed with them (the federal government can neither prohibit nor support abortion) and so have Congressional votes.
Yes, the Hyde Amendment.
"For opponents of abortion, the Hyde
Amendment is an obvious corollary: If abortion is wrong, then so is
government funding for it. Anti-abortion activists began pursuing the
amendment soon after the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.
"But
some people who generally support abortion rights also support the
amendment because they don’t believe providing access to abortion is an
appropriate use of government funds, or because they are “uncomfortable
with being complicit in the procedure through their taxpayer dollars,”
said Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the Susan B. Anthony List, an
anti-abortion group. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was not unusual for
Democratic politicians to make this argument.
"Mr. Biden, as a senator from Delaware, made a similar case in 1986, telling U.P.I.,
“If it’s not government’s business, then you have to accept the whole
of that concept, which means you don’t proscribe your right to have an
abortion and you don’t take your money to assist someone else to have an
abortion.” NYTimes, June 8, 2019.
The Washington Post gives a rundown of the Hyde Amendment and its part in the Democratic Party's "big tent."
The "Big Tent Party" has resumed its traditional position: circular firing squad.
UPDATE: Michael Gerson at the Wash Post give a brief history of the Dems and abortion (they weren't always so gung-ho) and agrees that Biden's decision plays into Trump and Republican hands.
UPDATE: Michael Gerson at the Wash Post give a brief history of the Dems and abortion (they weren't always so gung-ho) and agrees that Biden's decision plays into Trump and Republican hands.
I think you are right that this was a mistake. I do believe pressure was brought to bear. Groupthink triumphs, apparently abortion is the hill the Democratic Party has chosen to die on.
ReplyDeletePoor Joe. The most popular kid in the class, but he never gets to date the prom queen. I wasn't planning on voting for any candidate who planned to pass age 80 in his first term anyway. I know a lot of octogenarians, including myself, and we are not the men or women we were when we were 79.
ReplyDeleteThe age thing is a problem. It is with Sanders, too. We don't know how much time anyone has left, but the chances of someone not finishing their term increase the more time that passes. I would still take a chance on Joe if he ends up being the Dem candidate against Trump. A strong vp candidate would be really important. No Sarah Palins.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ronald Reagan took office at 71, I suggested to a reporter that he check with insurance actuaries on he president's chances of making eight years, and the answer was interesting: The fact that Reagan hit 71 made it likely that he'd hit 75. And if he hit 75, 79 became more likely. There were complications, of course, but the lead was that as you stay alive, your chances of staying alive get better. Of course, Reagan had Alzheimer's or senile dementia diagnosed after he left office, but who knows when it set in?
DeleteBut that was for the 70s. We are talking 80s. I have a friend who is two years older than I, and since I passed 80 I have been breaking down at the same rate he did. There is another friend who came after me who appears to be on the same glide path. At on point, 85 made a person a "supersenior," as one told me. But even she, who still played tennis, wasn't good 24 hours a day.
Now that we are looking at living proof that the 25th Amendment will never be invoked on a president who has lost it but still remembers his name, I am not enthused about the theory that we can elect an electable along with someone who can take over. What we elect is what we get. As you will see on the Fourth of July.
Uh oh. What's going to happen on the 4th of July?
DeleteTrump wants to co-opt the national celebration in Washington with a speech and pro-Trump rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Leni Riefenstahl lives.
DeleteLeave it to Trump to politicize and co-opt a national holiday to sow further division.
DeleteOh! Orange banners and tiki torches! I can't wait.
DeleteOctogenarian candidates for POTUS need to very wisely select a running mate who truly CAN be POTUS-in-waiting. I realize that Pete Buttigeg (I had to look up the spelling ….. again) has the disadvantage of not being a woman or a minority … but he could very well attract the younger easily fickle voters. He has yet to figure out how to appeal to blacks. Maybe he should be satisfied to fun for Indiana Governor or Senator and wait until he is properly cynicalized in the gristmill of big-time politics before trying to join the ranks of the electables at the national level.
DeleteButtigeg is a very appealing character...he'll never win in Indiana, however; I assume that's why he has gone national. I also think Stacy Abrams is a good pol but whose VP could she be? Again an unlikely state-wide winner (Georgia!).
DeleteYeah, have to say Mayor Pete is at the top of my list right now.
DeleteBiden's Catholicity is a problem; at least some bishops will make it a problem which means that likely enough Catholics will vote against Biden to make Trump president again.
ReplyDeleteHis support for the Hyde Amendment was a good defense as a Catholic and an American, that of conscience. Do not force moral opposition to abortion on those who do not believe it is immoral; do nor force those who believe it is immoral to pay for abortions for others.
Most importantly these have been Biden's positions for a long time. Now he has thrown in with the Democrats who believe you cannot be a Democratic unless you are pro-choice. Republicans are certainly going to make abortion an issue again, and it is going to hand Trump the White House again.
I think Sanders is the better candidate because he will not be trapped into the abortion issue; he will continue to make the Billionaires the issue. Since Sanders is not a Catholic, bishops cannot attack him by saying they would deny him communion.
"...at least some bishops will make it a problem.." Unfortunately you are right. I hate it when the Eucharist is used as a weapon. But perhaps what the bishops say or don't say is not going to make as much difference as you think. Right now the bishops as a group don't have an excess of moral capital to spend.
DeleteBeing denied the Eucharist would be a badge of honor for those so treated by those bitchups.
DeleteAre we all assuming Biden's flip on Hyde is just political expediency?
ReplyDeleteIf that's so, he's probably done the right thing to maximize his votes, given that he was never going to be pure enough for the single-issue pro-life voters.
Catholic Democrats may be disgusted with the bent toward strict pro-choice orthodoxy in the party. I agree that insisting on ideological purity weakens the party and makes it smaller.
But the reality is that pro-choice radicals are ascendant right now.
If the bishops deny Biden communion, I'm not sure that's going to lose him votes. In fact, it may make him look more sympathetic to non-Catholics who are very critical of the Church these days.
None of this is offered as a pro-Biden argument. He could have used the opportunity to challenge the Democratic Party's ideological intransigence on abortion. He would have gone down in flames, but he might have planted some seeds.
But I don't think that's how Uncle Joe rolls.
The thing is, what a president can do about abortion has been done by the Donfather, with a big assist from Addison mitchell McConnell. That is, to appoint Supreme Court justices. Now that the deed is done, it is all between the states and SCOTUS. The president doesn't have a veto, and there is nothing for him to sign no matter what else happens. He will be an innocent bystander, no matter what he thinks.
ReplyDeleteYou would think the Ds would have figured that much out by now.
Both sides know that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had some serious health issues. It is quite likely that whoever wins in 2020 will get to appoint her replacement. Ironic that the presidential election to a large degree has become about a supposedl non-political appointment.
DeleteKatherine, that's my read re RBG, too.
DeleteAll single-issue pro-life proponents will back GOP candidates to get that seat filled by another political conservative who can tip the scales on Roe. If the environment, foreign policy, and the economy have to tank for four years, well, at least the slaughter of fetal life stops, and we can rebuild from there.
My guess is that the NRA is firmly in the Trump camp. More guns for good guys!
I can't do single issue. But I get turned off by the pro choice rhetoric that if you give any consideration to the right of the fetus not to die, you're on board with patrimony and against women.
DeleteHowever I think the ones Jonesing to overturn Roe ought to think about the certain backlash from that. For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.
Apart from the issues of principle, Biden's problem runs to the flip-flop nature of this incident and the sense that he is a man who may have deep convictions, but doesn't know why.
ReplyDeleteThat he attaches this flip-flop to the fact that he believes in a right to health care doesn't match the underlying justification for the Hyde Amendment...women have a right to abortion;the government can't prohibit it (unless the SC does a u-turn); but the government doesn't have to pay for anyone to exercise that right. Neither does it pay for the right to a "free" press, or the right to own a gun, etc. Small point!
So deep conviction without the underlying argument may well be exacerbated by advancing age.. as Tom Blackburn precasts.
Off topic, but does anyone know what happened to Deacon Jim? I can't imagine him taking a pass on this topic unless he is in the hospital or visiting potential alma maters.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering that myself.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone - a few miscellaneous thoughts.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Uncle Joe: I'm frequently critical of progressives who apply purity tests, to themselves and others. So I guess I should concede that pro-life activists also give purity tests. The purpose of giving any ideological purity test, of course, is to ensure that the test-taker fails the test. As a case in point, here is Alexandra DeSanctis, who writes on pro-life matters for National Review (I've wondered, is that her real name?). Headline: "Joe Biden Was Never Pro-Life".
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/joe-biden-was-never-pro-life/
Still, it's grievous that he has turned his back on the Hyde Amendment.
Some of the Democratic candidates are working hard to distinguish themselves from a crowded field on matters of policy, but to an outside observer like me, it appears that, by and large, all of the candidates are ending up in the same places. Maybe the debates will help sort out policy differences.
I wish we lived in a world in which Ruth Bader Ginsburg could feel free to step down from the bench and spend time writing or teaching or hanging out with her family or doing whatever helps her relax.
She used to relax by arguing with Nino Scalia. I wish I knew her view on whether either of the two Federalist Fetus Boys nominated by Trump measures up to her old sparring partner.
DeleteConservatives like Gershon always frame the Democratic party's abortion position in terms of how divisive it is--perhaps in hopes of riling up the pro-life Democrats. To me it sounds like an oblique way of excusing themselves for supporting Trump (though Gershon has been very principled in his criticism of the president).
ReplyDeleteIf Republicans told me they were ready to ditch Trump if the Dem party changed its abortion plank, I guess I would care more about what they say about Biden's flip on Hyde. I think most Republicans will either support Trump or decline to vote.
For the good of the party, Democrats need to return to a less doctrinaire view of abortion. But when Bernie endorsed a pro-life candidate, a lot of screaming ensued, never mind that his own position has toed the party line.
The problem is that most women's rights proponents conflate abortion with other rights, and I don't see this changing. I suggested once to a group that women would not be truly free until they could shoot their husbands without fear of being imprisoned.
But not a lot of people appreciate my satire.
Kirsten Gillibrand wasn't ever my favorite candidate. But now she just jumped the shark.
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