A Democratic Party and a Joe Biden who didn’t idolize the abortion industry once existed. But over time, both succumbed to pressure from woke leftists. Any semblance of reasonableness on abortion policy has slowly but earnestly vanished into the abyss. Biden and the Democratic Party to which he pledges his unwavering, absolute loyalty are nothing short of pro-abortion.
Before 1973
Before the Supreme Court rendered Roe v. Wade by judicial decree in 1973, abortion was seldom discussed in party politics. In fact, neither the Republican nor Democratic Parties referenced abortion in their party platforms. Mere ambiguous allusions to “family planning” and the right to “space children” were included in the Democratic platform—certainly not unadulterated Pro-Life proclamations, but not exactly clear endorsements of abortion either. Both parties wanted to evade any explicit discussion of abortion.
Steadily, this consensus changed. The Republican Party, largely fueled by evangelical conservatives and Ronald Reagan, grew to understand that elective abortion is the unjust killing of an innocent human person. The Democratic Party—and Biden shortly thereafter—drifted the other way.
1973 – 1990s
Biden, who entered the Senate the same year the Supreme Court delivered Roe, quickly determined the decision, which legalized elective abortion until birth, went “too far.” And even as late as 1982, he supported a Constitutional Amendment to once again allow individual states to ban abortion. In taking these positions, he constantly leaned on his background as a Catholic. Conversely, during this same period, his party grew from one that practically opposed reversing Roe to one that fully supports the decision. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party “recognize[d]the religious and ethical concerns which many Americans have about abortion.”
The 1980s Democratic Party embraced abortion, but only in a somewhat uncomfortable manner. Similarly yet opposite, Biden supported some Pro-Life measures, but only to his discomfort. By this time, however, Biden started to obtain influence, and his perspectives on abortion began to shift.
Biden was a supporter of Roe by the late 1980s, yet in the 1990s he supported bans on partial-birth abortion. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party opposed the bans but adopted the infamous “safe, legal, and rare” mantra. The 2000 Democratic platform fully supported abortion but saw ideological diversity on the issue as a source of strength. Welcoming yet radical, Democrats of this time would often cloak their defenses of abortion up to and through birth in euphemistic and disarming language.
Today
Finally, within the last five years, the shift completed. In 2012, Biden, when pressed on abortion and his Catholic faith, concluded the act is a “personal decision” that he cannot dictate as a legislator, his Catholicism notwithstanding. Four years later, the Democratic platform introduced more extremist positions:
- Pro-abortion litmus tests for judges,
- Worldwide funding of abortion,
- The repeal of all Pro-Life laws including the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the direct federal funding of abortions.
This year’s platform calls for a federal codification of Roe, ensuring abortion on demand until birth will endure long past any reversal of Roe.
Where has Biden arrived? For his part, he has endorsed Roe’s codification and vowed to ensure all of his judicial nominees are pro-abortion. And under immense pressure from his left, he reversed his position on the Hyde Amendment, which he now passionately opposes. His complete shift on abortion is perhaps best personified by his vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, a politician known in part for attacking Pro-Life journalists, pregnancy resource centers, and Catholic judicial nominees. There has never been a more pro-abortion presidential ticket than Biden-Harris.
Biden often equips his Catholicism as a shield against criticism from Christians, particularly on abortion. But Biden’s record is clear: When his faith and his politics conflict, he chooses the Democratic Party. His Catholicism is conveniently absent. Yet, Biden incorrectly asserts he can separate his faith from his role in government. But the Catholic Church has repudiated this position frequently and forcefully. Pope Saint John Paul II writes, “laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law.” The pro-abortion laws decried by the Catholic Church are the very laws that Biden supports. He is either willfully ignorant of Catholicism’s central tenets or a brazen liar.
Most people become wiser with age. Biden is an exception. His respect for preborn life has plummeted since he started public office. This has been no discrete occurrence. As the Democratic Party has shifted to support the killing of preborn children, Biden has followed. He probably would not be the Democratic nominee for president if he maintained any Pro-Life convictions. Rather than stand firm from within, Biden calculated abortion is an issue on which his faith and previous beliefs mean little.