In 1999, the bankruptcy reform bill that then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) passionately supported suddenly hit a roadblock.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was offering an amendment to ensure that violent anti-abortion protesters wouldnt be able to declare bankruptcy to escape paying court-ordered fines.

The legislation was not just about abortion. Supporters wanted to tighten rules to make it harder for people to declare bankruptcy. The bill was a top priority for the credit card industry, which spent years pushing for it.

But if the intent was actually about people abusing the system, Schumers amendment fit. Randall Terry the founder of Operation Rescue, a group that opposes abortion rights filed for bankruptcy in 1998, saying, I will never let a cent of my money be seized to support the killing of the unborn. He didnt want to pay court-ordered damages for his confrontational protests at abortion clinics.

We must make it clear to those who would harm women and doctors that bankruptcy is no escape from accountability, Schumer said at the time.

Biden wasnt happy that the bankruptcy fight was suddenly about abortion. He said Schumer was introducing a poison pill that could kill the legislation.

The way to make sure nothing happens (with legislation) is to say abortion, Biden said, according to an April 14, 1999, article by The Associated Press.

In December 2000, he also said the argument that abortion clinics would not be protected without the Schumer amendment simply was flat out not true.

A bankruptcy reform bill without the abortion provision did pass in 2005, one of Bidens key legislative accomplishments during his 36 years in the Senate. Every single Republican voted for it, as did 18 Democrats . (Twenty-five Democrats voted against it.)

Bidens role in helping Republicans and the credit card industry pass this legislation has come under increased scrutiny during the 2020 presidential campaign. One of the foremost opponents of the bill, now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), is running against him for the Democratic nomination.

The bill was a top lobbying priority for credit card companies, including MBNA, a Delaware-based corporation whose employees were among Bidens most important campaign donors over the course of his Senate career. MBNA paid consulting fees to Bidens son Hunter between 2001 and 2005, while his father was at work on the legislation. The company was acquired by Bank of America in 2006 and sold to Lloyds Bank in 2017.

Biden and his team have defended his efforts on the legislation, saying that he worked to provide protections for low-income families.

Because it was a certainty that the Republican-controlled Congress and White House would turn the bankruptcy bill into law, Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates told Vox in May , then-Senator Biden fought for and won important concessions for middle class families in it, including protecting access to Chapter 7 forgiveness for working people, making child support and alimony the number one priority for debt payments in front of big banks and credit card companies and forcing credit card companies to warn borrowers about their interest rates.

On Tuesday, Warren released a plan on the reforms shed make to the law, including making it easier for people to file for bankruptcy, addressing racial and gender disparities in the bankruptcy system, and paring back rules that make it harder for people to recover afterward.

Warrens plan does not mention Biden by name. But its an unmistakable shot at the former vice president, drawing attention to his support for the law and his corporate-friendly record. Biden has touted his ability to work across the aisle, but that willingness to work with Republicans has often resulted in deals that put him at odds with people in his own party.

Prior to her Senate career, Warren was an academic who specialized in bankruptcy law. Her research concluded that the leading cause of individual bankruptcy was generally not raw overspending but personal tragedies such as the loss of a job, an unexpected medical bill, or divorce that disrupted family finances. She believed the bankruptcy legislation would squeeze families who had already been hit by hardship in order to generate revenue for banks and credit card companies.

Biden, by contrast, billed his legislation as an effort to stop spendthrifts from abusing the bankruptcy system.

To be clear, there were plenty of reasons many Democrats opposed the bankruptcy bill aside from the abortion issue. And President Bill Clinton vetoed it in 2000, spurred largely by opposition from first lady Hillary Clinton .

Hillary Clinton, after reading an op-ed by Warren in The New York Times, became concerned that the bill would make it harder for a woman to receive alimony and child support if her former husband filed for bankruptcy. She met with Warren, who helped explain some of the problems, and then went back to the White House and convinced the president to veto the measure.

The abortion issue arose again when the bankruptcy bill came up later, first unsuccessfully in 2001 and then when it passed in 2005.

Both times, and in 1999, Biden backed the inclusion of the Schumer amendment, which leading womens rights groups also supported. But he wanted bankruptcy reform passed so badly that he was willing to go forward even if the amendment wasnt included and seemed disappointed that his Democratic colleagues were making it an issue.

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in February 2001, Biden said that while he supported the goal of the amendments supporters, he wanted to make sure we dont put ourselves in the position of hyping this beyond what is real. He predicted the legal system would protect abortion clinics and side with them, even without the amendment.

A Biden Senate aide involved in passage of the bill said Biden was more involved in trying to get the Schumer language in the legislation. In April 2002, the Senate was involved in conference negotiations and Biden, Schumer and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) went to the House to personally engage in negotiations over the clinics language with Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) to get it into the House bill. (It initially made it into the legislation, but ultimately didnt get into the final version because a number of House conservatives objected.)

Biden has never been the most enthusiastic ally on abortion issues. He supports a womans right to choose but has also sided with abortion rights opponents at times. In June 2019, Biden struggled to articulate his position on the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for most abortions.

Its something that abortion rights supporters want to see overturned. Biden said he supported the measure, then reversed course and said he didnt .