It’s Official: The GOP Just Nominated The Most Anti-Woman VP Candidate In Generations

For Immediate Release: July 21, 2016

Share This

Cleveland, Ohio — Tonight, Mike Pence formally accepted the Republican nomination for the vice president. It’s official: The GOP has nominated the most anti-woman vice presidential candidate in generations.

 

This tops off a week where the GOP, for the first time in history, attacked Planned Parenthood by name in its official party platform, and tops off a night where the stage was packed with anti-abortion extremists.

 

Quote from Dawn Laguens, head of Planned Parenthood Votes:

 

“The Trump-Pence embrace of extreme policies continues to alienate women, and all Americans, across the country. One in three women has had an abortion in this country. One in five women has come to Planned Parenthood for health care like birth control and cancer screenings. When you build a campaign, and a platform, centered on attacking the basic care so many rely on, you end up alienating most of the country.”  

 

BACKGROUND: PENCE IS THE MOST ANTI-WOMAN VP CANDIDATE IN GENERATIONS

 

• In Congress, Pence introduced six separate measures aimed at blocking patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers: He introduced three bills as well as three amendments in an effort to prevent millions of patients from accessing life saving care at Planned Parenthood health centers. [H.R. 217, 1/07/11; H.Amdt.95 to HR 1, 2/17/11; H.R. 614, 1/21/09; H.Amdt.389 to HR 3293, 7/24/09; HR 4133, 11/09/07; H.Amdt.594 to HR 3043, 7/19/07]

 

• Pence was willing to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding: In 2011, Pence said on Morning Joe that “of course” he was willing to “hold up this entire budget over defunding Planned Parenthood.” [Morning Joe, 4/5/11]

 

• Politico called Pence’s determination to deny patients care at Planned Parenthood health centers a “one-man crusade” and said that “nobody hates Planned Parenthood quite as much as Mike Pence.” [Politico, 2/16/11]

 

• Pence said efforts to block patients from care at  Planned Parenthood were the most “fiscally responsible” way to address issues facing the economy:  Pence told the audience at the 2010 Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition that: "To those who say we should focus on fiscal issues, instead of the right to life, I say, 'What is more fiscally responsible than rolling back this administration's effort to expand funding for abortion at home and abroad? What is more fiscally responsible than denying any and all funding to Planned Parenthood of America?" [Politico, 10/4/10]

 

BACKGROUND: PENCE IS SO EXTREME THAT EVEN SOME REPUBLICANS OBJECT TO HIS POSITIONS

 

• Pence wants to see Roe v. Wade overturned: In 2006, Pence said that Justice Alito should be confirmed because he would “make it possible once and for all to end Roe v. Wade.” [The Washington Post, 1/24/06]

 

• Pence has also said: “I long for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history, when we move past the broken hearts and the broken lives of the past 38 years.” [Congressional Record, Pence Floor Remarks on H. Amdt. 95 to HR 1, 2/17/11]

 

• Pence cosponsored so-called “personhood” legislation: In Congress, Pence cosponsored dangerous so-called “personhood” legislation that, if enacted, could interfere with medical decisions relating to birth control, access to fertility treatment, management of a miscarriage, and access to safe and legal abortion. [H.R. 374, cosponsored 1/20/11]

 

• Pence supports a dangerous policy that bans international aid organizations from receiving U.S. family planning aid if they even mention abortion: In Congress, Pence voted for the “global gag rule” which is a policy that prohibits funding to aid organizations that provide abortion services or even talk about abortion as an option. Pence even spoke on the House floor about his support, saying he commended the efforts to halt these family planning services across the globe. [H. Amdt. 37 to H.R. 1646, Roll Call Vote 115, 5/16/01; Remarks in Congressional record, 5/16/01]

 

• Pence signed a $3.5 million contract with an anti-abortion group to promote abstinence and biased pregnancy counseling: As governor, Pence signed a contract to take $3.5 million from the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides aid to low-income families, and give it to the Pennsylvania-based anti-abortion group “Real Alternatives,” to “actively promote childbirth instead of abortion.” [The Journal Gazette, 10/13/15]