President Joe Biden has spoken out against anti-abortion campaigners since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, having called for the legislation to be codified into U.S. law.
His stance on abortion has not always been so clear cut, In 1974, he said Roe v. Wade went "too far," adding that he didn't think "that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body."
Those views have clearly changed, but, as one religious leader claimed on national television this week, some believe that he may now advocate of "on-demand" abortion up until birth.
The Claim
Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of the Iowa-based Family Leader organization speaking to Jim Acosta on CNN on July 9, 2023, claimed that Joe Biden, among other Democratic politicians, supported "abortion on-demand until the time of birth."
The exchange was shared in a tweet by political content provider @Acyn, whose clip of the exchange, posted July 9, 2023, received 1.2 million views.
During the interview, Acosta challenged Vander Plaats on whether Americans disagreed with Roe v. Wade.
Vander Plaats replied: "Where Americans really disagree is the extreme position of Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom of abortion on-demand until the time of birth, and the government subsidizes and pays for it."
The Facts
Claims about third-trimester and near-due-date abortions have been commonly used in arguments by conservative campaigners, keen to decry practices that they consider to be inhumane.
The tone of the conversations, however, often belie the realities of abortions later in pregnancy that not only account for a small proportion of all abortions but may be carried out to save a mother's life or in cases where the fetus would almost certainly die.
Among those who have abortions, the proportion of those who have the procedure after 21 weeks is low.
A 2020 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which investigated 620,327 legally induced abortions, found the abortion ratio was 198 per 1,000 live births.
Of those, only 0.9 percent of abortions were performed after 21 weeks of gestation, which would account for less than two pregnancies per 1,000 births.
In a 2022 investigation by The Washington Post into the prevalence and circumstances surrounding these procedures, Warren Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic (which specializes in late abortions) said that 25 percent to 50 percent of patients had "some serious, catastrophic fetal abnormality, and there are some weeks in which this is true for 100 percent of the patients."
Hern added: "These are uniformly desired pregnancies, and the patients are generally grief-stricken to be ending the pregnancy."
Only 16 percent of all abortion-providing facilities providing the service after 24 weeks, according to reproductive health rights organization Guttmacher Institute.
Vander Plaats' characterization that abortions in pregnancy can be carried out "on-demand" misleads about the nature and circumstances that lead a person to have an abortion.
There is little that is simple about requesting an abortion at any stage of pregnancy, with states demanding that patients must receive state-directed counseling, including information that is (according to the Guttmacher Institute) "designed to discourage the patient from having an abortion, and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided."
"Counseling must be provided in person and must take place before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two trips to the facility."
The notion that abortions can be provided "on-demand" is therefore disinformation in itself.
The question remains, has Biden ever spoken about supporting "on-demand" abortions up until birth? Put simply, the answer is no.
Biden has never been asked about "on-demand" abortions and in 2007 said he supported a ban on partial-birth abortions or late-term abortions. As explained above, however, he has shown support for Roe v. Wade and decried the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning the legislation in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
On June 23, 2023, speaking at the Mayflower Hotel, Biden said: "But the only sure way to protect a woman's health and rights is for Congress to pass a law,
"As I've said before, the Court got Roe right 50 years ago, and I believe Congress should restore the protections of Roe v. Wade once and for all."
Roe did not provide unrestricted access to abortion rights, instead offering states the ability to restrict or ban abortions once a fetus is viable (except when the life or health of the mother was at risk), although this did not give an exact time frame (24 weeks has been used a guidepost in science and law).
A representative for Vander Plaats told Newsweek: "In the early 1990s Sen. Biden co-sponsored a bill that would permit NO limit."
"Even if you concede the deliberately vague talking point that the decision 'should be between a woman and her doctor,' all a woman would need for an elective abortion is a willing doctor. Ergo, no legislated limit, not even to the day of birth."
The representative did not say what legislation Biden co-sponsored in the 1990s that would permit "NO limit."
In any case, the president has said he would support bans on the practice (albeit 16 years ago) and there is no evidence of a commitment on that position since, least of all to whatever an "on-demand" abortion is.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Ruling
False.
Vander Plaats claim is wrong for several reasons. Description of any abortion, let alone abortions later in pregnancy, as an "on-demand" service belies the significant bureaucratic hurdles required to acquire one.
Late-term abortions make up about 1 percent of all abortions and may be necessary to protect the health of the mother or in situations in which the fetus faces little to no chance of survival outside the womb.
In any case, Biden has not made any statement about "on-demand" abortions, nor has he recently committed to an answer on supporting abortions during the later term of pregnancy. He has shown continued support for Roe v. Wade,which provided the freedom to ban abortions after the point of viability unless the health of the woman giving birth was at stake. Although Biden said in 2007 that he would support a ban on late-term abortions, his views on abortion have changed significantly throughout his career.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
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