Read that over again. The Hyde Amendment was attached to the Democrats' Labor-HEW appropriations bill. Here's what Ford said when he vetoed that bill:
“I agree with the restriction on the use of Federal funds for abortion. My objection to this legislation is based purely and simply on fiscal integrity.”
Pretty straightforward. Ford may have been wrong or had the wrong priorities. He may have been lying or playing politics. But do him the decency of quoting his actual words and presenting the position he claimed to represent.
Reagan promoted a Federal ban on abortion, Ford came out for abortion.
About Reagan: sure, knowing that that would never happen in his lifetime. About Ford: maybe, after he left office. That wasn't his position when he was president.
There were certainly differences in the two men and their positions on abortion. I think Reagan was the better president and better on abortion. But the two men weren't polar opposites in everything or in their thinking on abortion. Ford's view was more complicated than you have said.
LOL, you are always arguing from the left.
You wave off Reagan’s famous and all-important pro-life position as meaningless, and want to defend the pro-abortion Ford who became a public advocate for abortion, who even while campaigning and trying to soft pedal his beliefs, allowed his wife to make it clear that she was pro-abortion, giving a wink, wink to his temporary abortion positions.
September 5, 1974: Republican President Gerald Ford says in TV news conference that the federal Congress should not be involved in abortion legislation.
eptember 17, 1976: The U.S Congress approves the Hyde Amendment, barring the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk. The Amendment is attached as a rider to the Health & Welfare appropriations bill, subsequently vetoed by President Gerald Ford.
September 30, 1976: Congress overrides the Ford Veto of the funding bill for Health & Welfare. The Hyde Amendment becomes federal law.
September 21, 1980: Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and independent candidate John Anderson sharply disagree on the abortion issue during a televised debate. Reagan supports a constitutional ban on abortion.