Article snippet: Former Vice President only Democratic presidential candidate to hold that position. Biden's support of the Hyde amendment puts him at odds with party leaders, congressional Democrats and his 2020 competitors amid growing momentum to repeal the federal prohibition. "Differentiating himself from the field this way will not earn Joe Biden any political points and will bring harm to women who are already most vulnerable," said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. For other abortion rights advocates, Biden’s support of Hyde illustrates what they say has been his weakness throughout his public service career, calling him unreliable and inconsistent on reproductive rights issues. “Joe Biden has been disappointing on reproductive rights for decades,” said Erin Matson, a reproductive rights activist who has worked with NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia and co-founded Reproaction, an abortion rights group. “I am disappointed to see that he’s failing to read the room with Democratic primary voters and the general public who are sick and tired of restrictions on abortion and old, out of touch white men trying to put restrictions on women,” she added. The Hyde amendment was first passed more than 40 years ago in response to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a woman’s right to abortion. It’s been reauthorized in annual government spending bills ever since, with votes from Democrats and Republicans. As a senator from Delaware, Biden once voted t... Link to the full article to read more