ATLANTA 鈥� After two days of intense criticism, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reversed course Thursday and declared that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions.

came after rivals and women鈥檚 rights groups blasted him for affirming through his campaign aides that he still supported the Hyde Amendment. With the shift, Biden hopes to limit any damage from women鈥檚 groups and progressives who already are skeptical about whether a 76-year-old, more centrist white man can be the party standard-bearer in 2020.

Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Atlanta, Biden didn鈥檛 mention the attacks he鈥檚 endured this week but tacitly agreed with his critics who cast the Hyde Amendment as another abortion barrier that disproportionately affects poor women and women of color. He said new restrictions in Republican-run states like Georgia and Alabama justify his shift.

鈥淚鈥檝e been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents,鈥� Biden said, opening a speech dedicated mostly to voting rights and issues important to the black community with an explanation of a significant policy shift.

鈥淚 want to be clear: I make no apologies for my last position. I make no apologies for what I鈥檓 about to say,鈥� he explained, arguing that 鈥渃ircumstances have changed.鈥�

Biden, a Roman Catholic who has wrestled publicly with abortion policy for decades, said he voted as a senator to support the Hyde Amendment because he believed that women would still have access to abortion even without Medicaid insurance and other federal health care grants. Now, he says, there are too many barriers that threaten that constitutional right.

A Planned Parenthood representative applauded Biden鈥檚 reversal but noted that he has been behind the women鈥檚 rights movement on the issue.

鈥淗appy to see Joe Biden embrace what we have long known to be true: Hyde blocks people 鈥� particularly women of color and women with low incomes 鈥� from accessing safe, legal abortion care,鈥� said Leana Wen of Planned Parenthood, the women鈥檚 health giant whose services include abortion and abortion referrals.

Hyde has become a defining standard for Democrats in recent years, making what was once a more common position among Democrats more untenable, particularly given the dynamics of primary politics heading into 2020.

Associated Press writer Elana Schor in Washington contributed to this report