Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden still supports the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions in most cases, his campaign said Wednesday — putting Mr. Biden at odds with his 2020 Democratic presidential rivals.

The ban allows for exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother, but much of the 2020 Democratic field has called to repeal it entirely as the issue of abortion rights moves to the forefront in the wake of newly passed restrictions in states like Alabama.

Mr. Biden’s position on the Hyde Amendment was first reported by NBC News.

When asked about the amendment by an ACLU activist earlier this year, Mr. Biden appeared to say he would work to abolish it and that it “can’t stay.”

But his campaign said that Mr. Biden thought he was answering a question about the Mexico City policy, which generally bans federal funding from being sent to overseas groups that promote or perform abortions.

Mr. Biden’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination swiftly re-affirmed their opposition to the amendment on Wednesday.

“Repealing the Hyde Amendment is critical so that low-income women in particular can have access to the reproductive care they need and deserve,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said on Twitter. Reproductive rights are human rights, period. They should be nonnegotiable for all Democrats.”

Sen. Bernard Sanders said he would repeal the amendment under his “Medicare for all” universal health care proposal.

“There is #NoMiddleGround on women’s rights. Abortion is a constitutional right,” Mr. Sanders said on Twitter.

Mr. Biden has called the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to an abortion the “law of the land,” though he has voted in the past to leave the matter up to individual states.

In one of his books, Mr. Biden described his approach on abortion as “middle-of-the-road.”

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said there is no “political or ideological excuse” for Mr. Biden’s support of the Hyde Amendment.

“At a time where the fundamental freedoms enshrined in Roe are under attack, the 2020 Democratic field has coalesced around the party’s core values — support for abortion rights, and the basic truth that reproductive freedom is fundamental to the pursuit of equality and economic security in this country,” she said. “Differentiating himself from the field this way will not earn Joe Biden any political points and will bring harm to women who are already most vulnerable.”

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