Planned Parenthood Formally Endorses Joe Biden Despite Hyde Amendment Flip Flop, Tara Reade Allegations

Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a roundta
Matt Slocum/AP Photo
Hannah Knudsen

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund formally endorsed Joe Biden (D) on Monday despite the abortion giant’s past concerns regarding the former vice president — from his former support of the Hyde Amendment to Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault.

Planned Parenthood’s Acting President Alexis McGill Johnson, who leads the tax-payer funded organization responsible for performing 345,672 abortion from 2018-2019 alone, described the upcoming race as “literally a life and death election.”

“We felt like we can’t endure another four years of Trump; we have to do everything we can to get him out of office,” she said, according to NPR.

The formal endorsement video accuses President Trump of “tear[ing] down our progress, making it harder to access birth control, sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, blocking access to care at Planned Parenthood [and] appointing a record number of judges opposed to reproductive rights.”

“We will protect women’s constitutional right to choose, and I am proud to stand with you in this fight,” Biden, the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee, states in the ad:

The endorsement follows a year of controversy between Biden and the abortion giant. Last year, Biden waffled on his position on the Hyde Amendment, which blocks taxpayer money from directly funding abortion. The former vice president backed the amendment for decades but flip flopped after facing criticism from pro-abortion groups after formally jumping into the presidential race.

“For many years as U.S. Senator, I have supported the Hyde Amendment like many many others have,” he said during a speech at the IWillVote Gala last June.

“I’ve been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents,” he said, adding “if I believe that health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support that amendment dependent that makes that right dependent on someone’s zip code.”

Breitbart News detailed the magnitude of Biden’s tango with the amendment over the past year:

“I have consistently — on no fewer than 50 occasions — voted against federal funding of abortions,” he said in 1994. In 2007, he reiterated: “I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding.”

In May, Biden appeared to reverse his position, telling a volunteer from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that he no longer supported the Hyde Amendment.

But on Wednesday, Biden’s campaign told NBC News that he still supported the Hyde amendment. That created an opening for criticism by his Democratic opponents, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Former Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen said, at the time, that she took Biden “at his word”:

In April, Planned Parenthood Action called on Biden to address the Tara Reade allegations, stating its position that women “should be heard, listened to, [and] taken seriously.”

“Saying we believe survivors doesn’t mean only when it’s politically convenient. This isn’t a fringe issue, it’s one that affects all of us. This crosses political party, race, gender, income level, and sexual orientation,” Johnson said in a statement at the time.

Biden has dismissed Reade’s allegations, which have largely fallen to the wayside in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and widespread protests popping up across the nation. Nonetheless, the former vice president’s general denial apparently sufficed for Planned Parenthood, given the organization’s emphatic endorsement.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.