Former US Vice-President Joe Biden has reversed his stance on abortion funding amid mounting criticism from his fellow 2020 Democratic rivals. At a Democratic gala on Thursday, Mr Biden denounced a law which restricts federal abortion funding, saying he believed all healthcare was a right. The party's current front-runner added that he made "no apologies" for having backed it previously. Elizabeth Warren and Beto O'Rourke had been the latest to attack his stance. Mr Biden had long voiced support for the Hyde Amendment - a law passed in 1976, right on the heels of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion across the US. His campaign had told NBC News this week he was still in favour of the amendment, triggering a backlash from liberal Democrats. What is the Hyde Amendment?In 1976, Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican congressman, wrote an amendment to a federal funding bill that stated: "None of the funds contained in this Act shall be used to perform abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the foetus were carried to term." The amendment meant that the vast majority of women receiving federal assistance through the low-income healthcare programme Medicaid would be blocked from using that money for abortion services, which can often cost several hundred dollars. In 1994, under Democratic President Bill Clinton, the Hyde Amendment was updated to include exceptions in cases of rape or incest.