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After two days of intense criticism, Joseph R. Biden Jr. reversed himself Thursday night on one of the issues most important to Democratic voters, saying he no longer supports a measure that bans federal funding for most abortions. As recently as Wednesday, Mr. Biden’s campaign had said he supported the measure, known as the Hyde Amendment. His decision to change positions illustrates the intense pressure he faces as the presumed front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president. (Glueck, 6/6)

"If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment" that makes it harder for some women to access care, Biden said at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Atlanta. The former vice president's reversal on the Hyde Amendment came after rivals and women's rights groups blasted him for affirming through campaign aides that he still supported the decades-old budget provision. The dynamics had been certain to flare up again at Democrats' first primary debate in three weeks. Biden didn't mention this week's attacks, saying his decision was about health care, not politics. (Barrow, 6/7)

The former vice president said he could no longer support the ban, known as the Hyde Amendment, blaming Republican efforts to limit access to abortions and overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. “It was not under attack…as it is now. But circumstances have changed,” Mr. Biden said during a speech in Atlanta, referring to the Supreme Court ruling protecting a women’s right to an abortion. “I’ve been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents.” “It’s clear that these folks are going to stop at nothing to get rid of Roe, and it’s clear to me that we have to just be just as strong in defending it,” Mr. Biden said. He added, “Times have changed.” (Thomas, 6/6)

Biden, however, did indicate that he would not support taxpayer funding for abortion if it became more readily available for women in need, particularly women who live in poverty. (Caputo, 6/6)

“It seemed like he heard a lot of feedback and opened his mind to thinking about this in a different way,” Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in an interview after Biden announced his new position. Hogue declined to discuss any conversations she had with Biden or his campaign, although she suggested that her group and others had mounted an effort to change his mind. (Itkowitz, 6/6)

The broad answer is that it’s a measure banning federal funding for abortion. More precisely, it states that Medicaid will not pay for an abortion unless the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. The amendment — named for former Representative Henry Hyde, Republican of Illinois — was first passed in 1976 as part of the appropriations bill for what is now the Department of Health and Human Services, and it is renewed every year, with occasional changes to the list of exceptions. (Astor, 6/7)

Planned Parenthood CEO Leana Wen lauded Biden's announcement on Twitter. "Happy to see Joe Biden embrace what we have long known to be true: Hyde blocks people—particularly women of color and women with low incomes—from accessing safe, legal abortion care," Wen wrote. (Hellmann, 6/6)