The media and feminists like to accuse Mitt Romney of being a flip-flopper on abortion, simply because he converted from supporting abortion to opposing it.
They also like to point out Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, don’t even see eye to eye on the issue, since the former has a rape and incest exception and the latter doesn’t.
And then we move to the Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket, which, on the issue of abortion, is actually all of the above on steroids. Yet we hear nary a peep from the press questioning the vast inconsistencies.
I gleaned all the following points from National Right to Life’s excellent piece, “Biden-Ryan Versus Obama on Abortion Policy.”
While Biden has never called himself pro-life, he was at one point considered so weak on the issue a Planned Parenthood official stated in 1986, “Joe Biden moans a lot and then usually votes against us.”
In 1982 Biden voted for a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade, because, according to NRLC, he thought that Supreme Court decision had “gone too far.”
It may be hard to believe, given Biden’s statement during the October 11 vp debate that he “fundamentally disagree[d]” with Ryan’s rape/incest exception, that Biden once held that same exception. According to NRLC:
[T]hroughout his Senate career Biden voted for the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting most federal funding of abortion. Indeed, Biden explicitly advocated that the Hyde Amendment should contain an exception only to save the life of the mother, and he voted repeatedly against adding exceptions for rape and incest to the amendment.
Biden also takes a much less radical stand in support of abortion than his boss, begging the question, “Mr. Biden, isn’t it hypocritical for you to criticize Mr. Ryan for supporting positions for which you yourself often voted as a U.S. senator – especially since your record is opposite the positions taken by Barack Obama on those same issues?,” quoting NRLC.
To wit:
– Partial Birth Abortion Ban: As U.S. Senator Biden repeatedly voted for the PBA Ban and against attempts to weaken it with a so-called health exception. After President Clinton twice vetoed the ban, Biden voted to override the vetoes. Meanwhile Obama opposed a similar ban as Illinois state senator and went so far as to attempt to raise campaign cash in opposition to the federal ban.
– Freedom of Choice Act: As U.S. Senator Obama cosponsored FOCA, a radical bill that would have overturned the PBA Ban and all other federal and state limitations on abortion. Meanwhile Biden “expressed concern” that FOCA “would go too far in overturning state abortion limitations,” according to NRLC. Biden repeatedly refused to support the legislation unless it included several exceptions.
– Hyde Amendment: For decades Biden voted for this annual rider that banned federal funding of abortion except to save the life of the mother. When attempts were made to weaken Hyde, Biden always rebuffed attempts to add a rape/incest exception.
– Born Alive Infant Protection Act: U.S. Senator Biden voted for it, Illinois state Sen. Obama voted against the identical version.
In light of all this, NRLC suggested another question for the debate, “Mr. Biden, since you yourself voted for several major types of pro-life legislation for a period of decades in the U.S. Senate – taking positions the same as Mr. Ryan on those issues — when exactly did you decide that those positions were ‘extreme’?”
Your thoughts on why no one seems to notice Biden’s vast inconsistencies on abortion and his opposition to many of Obama’s radical stands?
Reprinted with permission from JillStanek.com