Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) is a moderate advocate of reproductive rights. Biden admits a personal dilemma due to religious belief; he supports Roe v. Wade, but opposes public funding for abortion.

"I'm a practicing Catholic, and it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my, my religious and cultural views with my political responsibility. And the decision that I have come to is Roe v. Wade is as close to we're going to be able to get as a society that incorporates the general lines of debate within Christendom, Judaism and other faiths, where it basically says there is a sliding scale relating to viability of a fetus."

Biden accepts the Catholic belief that life begins at conception; he supported the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal abortion ban, but criticized their rationale:

"This decision was intellectually dishonest. I think it's a rare procedure that should only be available when the woman's life and health is at stake. But what this court did, it took that decision and it said in a -- put a Trojan horse in it to actually dishonest reasoning, lay the groundwork for undoing Roe v. Wade. That's the danger of this decision, not the specific procedure, but the rationale offered to justify, I think, the next step they're going to try to take."

In his statement to NARAL Pro-Choice America, Biden emphasized access to reproductive health services:

"Roe v. Wade protections only have real meaning if women can safely exercise their rights, that is why I voted for the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and have consistently supported providing access to military women serving abroad. I support reasonable judicial bypass requirements in parental notification provisions. I do not agree with criminalizing adults who help young women access abortions -- we need to support young girls, not isolate them. Finally, I have consistently opposed the Mexico City Policy, and other "gag" rules, and believe that non-governmental entities should spend their private resources as they see fit, including providing reproductive health services."

Biden received a score of 100 percent from NARAL in 2002 and 2004-2006, but only 36 percent in 2003. He voted to fund contraceptives and education in order to reduce teen pregnancy. He also voted against a bill to maintain a ban on military base abortions.

At the July 28^th Democratic debate, Biden addressed HIV/AIDS:

"I spent last summer going through the black sections of my town, holding rallies in parks, trying to get black men to understand it is not unmanly to wear a condom, getting women to understand they can say no, getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS. It's an important thing.

Because the fact of the matter is, in the community, in the communities engaged in denial, they're engaged in denial, no one wants to talk about it in the community, and we do not have enough leaders, in the community and outside the community, demanding we face the reality, confront the men in the community, as well as the women, letting them know there are alternatives."

Biden discusses the need for national health insurance: