Biden backs federal fund for abortion support

President Biden said he would support a federal fund to help women pay for abortion procedures while calling on companies to also help their employees pay for reproductive care.

“The answer is absolutely,” Biden told NowThis News when asked in a recent interview if he supports a federal fund for individuals who need to take time off work or obtain child care for an abortion.

“I do support that, and I’ve publicly urged companies to do that. I’ve urged them publicly as president of the United States saying, ‘This is what you should be doing … I urge you to do it because there’s so many, and imagine the women who need that kind of assistance, but have no money at all to be able to do this. None … what do they do? They don’t have the option,” the president said.

Biden was interviewed alongside Danielle Mathisen, a medical resident pursuing a career in obstetrics and gynecology, for NowThis. It was recorded on Tuesday and will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

The president’s comments mark a reaffirming of his stance against the Hyde amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions.

The Hyde amendment first passed Congress in 1976 and allows exceptions given for cases of rape, incest and when the life of the pregnant person is endangered.

Biden supported the Hyde amendment throughout his long political career, but during the Democratic presidential primary, he said he could no longer support it. He was then hailed by reproductive rights groups when he didn’t include it in his 2022 budget.

The president signed an executive order in August, in response to the Supreme Court’s June ruling striking down Roe v. Wade, to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to consider working with states to use Medicaid waivers to pay for expenses for people who cross state lines to receive abortions.  

Just days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, several of the nation’s largest companies said they would be willing to reimburse employees who travel out of state to legally access abortion services. Those companies included Disney, Meta, Zillow, BuzzFeed and Amazon, among others.