Biden discusses opposition to Supreme Court opinion in federal abortion ban case

May 2 2007

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, in an interview on Sunday on NBC's " Meet the Press " said that he supports a federal law (S 3) banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion but added that the majority opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision last month to uphold the law is an "intellectually dishonest rationale for an honest justification for upholding the ban".

Biden voted for the law in 2003. In the interview, Biden said the majority opinion is "paternalistic" because it says "the court could consider the impact on the mother and keeping her from making a mistake." He added, "This is all code for saying, 'Here we come to undo Roe.'"

Biden, who is Catholic, also said he opposes public funding for abortion. Abortion rights are "the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my ... religious and cultural views with my political responsibility," Biden said. When asked if he believes that life begins at conception, Biden said, "I am prepared to accept my church's view" (Russert, "Meet the Press," NBC, 4/29). Video of Biden's comments are available online. A transcript of the complete segment also is available online.