As the November election looms, U.S. President Joe Biden’s unwavering commitment to unrestricted abortion has become unmistakably clear, observes William McGurn in the Wall Street Journal. Biden’s stance leaves no room for ambiguity: he opposes any restrictions on abortion and rejects the Hyde Amendment’s limits on the use of tax dollars to fund abortions, marking an absolute pro-choice position in political terms.
Despite being only the second Catholic president in American history, Biden has faced significant criticism from U.S. bishops for his staunch pro-abortion stance. However, Church leaders have remained conspicuously silent as Biden pledges to restore abortion-on-demand as the legal norm in the country.
Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris made history by becoming the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic, choosing to stop by a Planned Parenthood facility in Minnesota to highlight the Biden administration’s unwavering support for the nation’s leading abortion provider.
The Democratic Party’s embrace of an increasingly radical pro-abortion position is evident, with some members urging party leaders to frame abortion as a positive rather than a tragic necessity. This marks a departure from the era of Mario Cuomo, who popularized the “personally opposed” stance among pro-choice Catholic Democrats, and Bill Clinton’s advocacy for abortions to be “safe, legal, and rare.”
Despite Biden’s overt support for abortion, he often avoids directly using the term, opting instead for euphemisms that soften the reality of terminating unborn life, a practice condemned by his Church as murder. Even in his recent State of the Union address, Biden refrained from explicitly mentioning “abortion,” opting for phrases like “her ability to act” in reference to Texas’ abortion ban.
With the Democratic Party’s unwavering support for abortion in all circumstances, voters who support Biden will be fully aware of the position they are endorsing, even as some attempt to downplay or obscure the stark reality of his abortion policies.
