President Joe Biden, an Irish Catholic, was once pro-life.

Comments Biden made to the press on May 3 are a reminder of some of the president’s pro-life past.

“The idea that we’re going to make a judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the Supreme Court, I think goes way overboard,” Biden told reporters at the time, The Washington Post reported.

Critics were quick to point out Biden’s use of the word "child" in reference to abortion.

“President Biden made a surprising statement today in describing Roe as protecting the ‘right to abort a child,'" law school professor Jonathan Turley, who serves as the Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, tweeted. "Pro-choice advocates often object to the reference to anything other than the ‘fetus’ in debates.”

Some say the comment hearkens back to Biden’s pro-life past.

The National Review reports that in 1973, when Roe v. Wade was first decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, Biden disagreed with the ruling.

“I don’t like the decision," Biden said. "I think it went too far."

Biden added that he didn’t think pregnant women had “the sole right to say what should happen to her body.”

Although Biden later dropped his opposition to abortion rights granted under Roe v. Wade, he did continue to vote in a pro-life fashion.

This includes voting for the Help Amendment that bans foreign aid for abortions and, in 1981, first passed the “Biden Amendment,” which prevented federal funding from being used in foreign abortion research. The “Biden Amendment" has been included in every federal spending bill since it was authored.

In 1977, Biden voted against allowing Medicaid funding to be used to fund abortions in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother was in jeopardy.

In the late 90s, he also voted to prevent abortions for military personnel in overseas hospitals.

Barbara Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles professor and director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, said Biden’s stance on abortion represents “an evolution.”

He was a regular supporter of the Hyde Amendment that prevents using federal dollars to carry out abortions before changing his stance in 2019 when running against former President Donald Trump.

"I make no apologies for my last position and I make no apologies for what I'm about to say,” Biden told a crowd in Atlanta when announcing he would support the Hyde Amendment going forward, according to CNN.

He added in comments later.

"If I believe health care is a right as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone's zip code," Biden said.

Deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield later told the press "this was a tough personal decision for him.”

"That's authentic to who he is," she said, according to CNN. "He's somebody who says what he believes."