Until he abruptly reversed course Thursday, 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden was seeking to become the first Democratic presidential nominee since President Jimmy Carter to support the law banning the use of federal funds on abortion services.

Though nominees through the decades had varied stances on choice from John Kerrys personally pro-life dance to Hillary Clintons full-throated support for reproductive freedom they each came out in support of repealing the Hyde Amendments ban on federal funding for abortion services even if, like Biden, they had to flip-flop.

Carter was the first Democratic Party presidential candidate to take a position on the federal funding of abortion services. The Hyde Amendment was enacted by Congress during the 1976 presidential campaign and would be up for renewal in 1977. This was also the first presidential campaign since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

A devout evangelical Christian, Carter took what would become a common abortion position for Democratic presidential nominees. He was personally opposed to abortion but would respect the courts constitutional interpretation legalizing the practice. But Carter went a bit further. He also supported the Hyde Amendments ban on Medicaid funding being used for abortion services.

I personally dont believe the federal government ought to finance abortions, Carter said at an October 1976 presidential debate.

He continued to stake out this position while in office, particularly after a series of Supreme Court decisions said that the federal government had no obligation to fund abortion services. But he did endorse exceptions to the federal ban for rape, incest and the life of the mother.