Obama/Biden: Biden on Abortion

So Obama announced his pick for VP: Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. It's not all that clear that the VP selection matters a whole lot, but informed voters should still probably do a little research on the VP's opinions. Biden might influence Obama's policies should he win the presidency, so you should know what he believes.

In that spirit, here's a few links with some information:

Biden, a Catholic, is a fairly strong supporter of abortion and stem cell research, although he did vote to ban partial-birth abortion. Here's an interesting article from a Catholic perspective about how his abortion views are in conflict with his faith.

Amanda Carpenter quotes NARAL's approval of Biden's record on Supreme Court confirmations:

"Most notably, Sen. Biden has a strong record of opposing judicial nominees with hostile anti-choice records. He voted against George W. Bush's two anti-choice nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and he opposed anti-choice Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Court as well as multiple anti-choice nominees to lower federal courts."- NARAL statement

Biden has served as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was involved in the confirmation hearings of Bork, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito, among others. He voted against all four and was a big factor in the ugliness of the Bork and Thomas hearings. If he has any influence on Obama's Supreme Court nominations, it obviously won't be good for conservatives.