Joe Biden avoids saying 'abortion' while discussing issue at Planned Parenthood event

One would think that if you're speaking at a Planned Parenthood event about how you would protect abortion, that you would at least say the word "abortion".

But presidential hopeful Joe Biden, who has spent the last few months campaigning across the country, somehow couldn't get himself to say the word even once while speaking at the event in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday.

Biden, who until earlier this month was the only Democrat to personally oppose abortion, used only euphemisms to refer to abortion access, including "access to choice" or "reproductive rights".

The former vice president, who is also a devout Catholic, has been criticised by activists and Democrats alike after flip-flopping on the issue. In a video in 2006, Biden explained: "I do not view abortion as a choice and a right", but after facing severe backlash recently stated that he is now in support of it.

Speaking about his unreleased health plan, Biden struggled to explain his change of heart, saying:

So it became really clear to me that although the Hyde Amendment was designed to try to split the difference here to make sure women still had access, you can’t have access if in fact everyone's covered by a federal policy.

And so that's why I, at the same time I announced that policy, I announced that I can no longer continue to abide by the Hyde Amendment.

When confronted by a veteran who had been raped and was unable to get an abortion, Biden still managed to answer without saying the actual word:

The idea that there is a notion that anywhere in the world that a woman who is raped under any circumstances can be denied access, whether you're in the military or anywhere else, is absolutely bizarre. It's wrong. It's simply wrong.

You should have access to — you should have access to affordable — and if you don't have — you and you happen to have it — the VA benefits that you have, including your health care, should cover your circumstances.

HT The Hill

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