Commentary

NARAL Slams Trump for Selecting “Mr. Defund Planned Parenthood” Mike Pence as Vice Presidential Nominee


Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–July 15, 2016.  Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s reported selection of Mike Pence as his running mate:

“Donald Trump’s decision to choose Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate is proof positive that when he has said that he will supplement his total lack of policy experience by surrounding himself with ‘policy experts,’ what he really meant was ‘extreme ideologues.’ For women, for LGBT families and for the diverse families that make America great, our nation’s potential future just got a lot scarier.

“While Trump has only hypothesized that women should be punished for having abortions, Governor Pence has turned this theory into law. Governor Pence is a man who has worked to make abortion illegal, imprison doctors for providing abortion services for women, and ban some of the most common forms of contraception. It’s no coincidence that Purvi Patel is serving twenty years in prison in a state under his leadership for her attempt to have an abortion.

“His fervor to close Planned Parenthood clinics and rob Indiana citizens of basic health services has resulted in an all out health crisis for his constituents, including an uptick in HIV infection and fewer prenatal services for rural and impoverished pregnant women.

“In choosing Pence, Trump has doubled down on his dangerous, reckless and hateful campaign and once again proven that when it comes to women and families Trump will take away our rights and turn back the clock on decades worth of progress.”

Read the full profile below:

Criminalizing Women and Abortion Providers

  • Led the state that criminalized Purvi Patel for having an abortion.
  • Signed into law a measure that criminalizes doctors for the reasons women seek abortion care.[1]
  • Repeatedly voted for the Federal Abortion Ban, a law that criminalizes some abortion services, with no exception to protect a woman’s health, and carries up to a two-year prison sentence for doctors.[2]
  • Voted in favor of a bill that would criminalize a doctor for the reasons a woman seeks abortion care.[3]

Eroding Roe v. Wade and a Woman’s Right to Choose

  • Repeatedly cosponsored legislation that would, if it went into effect, make abortion illegal nationwide in almost all cases and ban some of the most common forms of contraception, stem-cell research, and in vitro fertilization.[4]
  • Voted for a measure banning medically appropriate abortion care as early as 20 weeks without an adequate exception to protect a woman’s health.[5]
  • Repeatedly voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a law intended to give separate legal status to an embryo or fetus.[6]  Anti-choice Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) boasted that the law “undermines abortion rights.[7]

Undermining Access to Abortion Services

  • Repeatedly voted to deny abortion coverage for women in the health-insurance exchanges.[8]
  • Repeatedly voted to deny women in the military – who defend our freedom overseas – the right to use their own, private funds for abortion care at military hospitals.[9]
  • Repeatedly voted for legislation that would impose a new, impossibly complex national patchwork of parental-notification mandates on doctors and young women.[10]
  • Repeatedly voted to allow hospitals to refuse to provide emergency abortion care, even when a woman’s life is in danger.[11]
  • Repeatedly voted to allow a broad range of individuals and institutions—including hospitals, hospital employees, health-care providers, employers, and/or insurers—to refuse to provide or cover medical treatment, such as contraception or abortion care.[12]
  • Voted to prohibit federal funds from being used by teaching health centers for training in abortion care.[13]
  •  Voted to prohibit the use of federal funds for prescription or discussion of medical abortion.[14]
  • Voted to block low-income women from getting abortion services in most cases.[15]
  • Repeatedly voted to prohibit the District of Columbia from using its own locally raised revenue to provide funding for abortion services to Medicaid-eligible women.[16]
  • Repeatedly voted to prohibit the federal prison system from using funds to pay for abortion care.[17]
  • Repeatedly signed into law TRAP measures that subject abortion providers to burdensome restrictions not applied to other medical professionals.[18]
  • Signed into law a measure prohibiting abortion coverage in the entire private insurance market.[19]
  • Signed into law a measure prohibiting dispensing of the medication-abortion pill through telehealth networks.[20]

Putting Family Planning At Risk 

  • Repeatedly led the effort to defund Planned Parenthood health centers – including bringing the government to the brink of shutdown.[21]
  • Voted to terminate the Title X family-planning program, which provides millions of women with health-care services ranging from birth control to breast cancer screenings.[22]
  • Repeatedly voted in favor of the global gag rule, a policy that bans overseas health clinics from receiving U.S. family-planning aid if they use their own funds to provide legal abortion services, give referrals, or even take a public pro-choice position.[23]
  • Repeatedly voted to block funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization that provides family-planning services – not abortion – for the world’s poorest women.[24]
  • Voted to block access to family-planning services for the world’s poorest women.[25]

Repealing Health-Care Reform

  • Supports repealing the Affordable Care Act.[26] The Affordable Care Act greatly improves women’s access to basic health care by ensuring coverage and affordability of maternity care, family-planning services, and other reproductive-health services.

Notes:

[1] H.B.1337 (IN 2016).

[2] H.Res.498, Adoption of the Rule for H.R.4965, 7/24/02; H.R.4965, 7/24/02; H.R.760, 6/4/03; S.3 Conference report, 10/2/03.

[3] H.R.3541, 5/31/12.

[4] H.J.Res.20, 107th Cong., (2001); H.R.552, 109th Cong., (2005); H.R.4157, 110th Cong., (2007); H.R.881, 111th Cong., (2009); H.R.374, 112th Cong., (2011).

[5] H.R.3808, 7/31/12.

[6] H.R. 503, 107th Cong., 4/26/01; H.R.1997, 2/26/04.

[7] Kate Snow, Laci Peterson Family Endorses “Unborn Victims” Bill, CNN, 5/07/03, available at http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/07/laci.bill (last visited 7/14/16).

[8] Stupak amendment to the Health Care for America Act, H.R.3962, 11/7/09; Camp motion to recommit Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, H.R.4872, 3/21/10; H.R.3, 5/4/11; H.R.358, 10/13/11.

[9] Sanchez amendment to FY’02 Department of Defense Authorization Act, H.R.2586, 9/25/01; Sanchez amendment to FY’03 Department of Defense Authorization Act, H.R.4546, 5/10/02; Sanchez amendment to FY’04 Department of Defense Authorization Act, H.R.1588, 5/22/03; Davis amendment to FY’05 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R.4200, 5/19/04; Davis amendment to FY’06 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R.1815, 5/25/05; Davis amendment to FY’07 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R.5122, 5/10/06.

[10] Jackson-Lee Motion to Recommit H.R.476, 4/17/02; H.R.476, 4/17/02; Scott amendment to H.R.748, 4/27/05; Jackson-Lee amendment to H.R.748, 4/27/05; H.R.748, 4/27/05; S.403, 9/26/06.

[11] Capps motion to recommit H.R.358, 10/13/11; H.R.358, 10/13/11.

[12] H.Res.546, Adoption of Rule for H.R.4691, 9/25/02; H.R.4691, 9/25/02; H.R.358, 10/13/11.

[13] Foxx amendment to H.R.1216, 5/25/11.

[14] King amendment to FY’12 Agriculture appropriations, H.R.2112, 6/16/11.

[15] H.R.3, 5/4/11.

[16] Tiahrt motion to recommit FY’10 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, H.R.3170, 7/16/09; H.R. 1, 2/19/11; H.R.3, 5/4/11.

[17] DeGette amendment to FY’02 Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations, H.R.2500 7/17/01; H.R.3, 5/4/11.

[18] S.B.371 (IN 2013); S.B.292 (IN 2014); H.B.1145 (IN 2015); H.B.1562 (IN 2015); S.B.329 (IN 2015); S.B.546 (IN 2015); H.B.1337 (IN 2016).

[19] H.B.1123 (IN 2014).

[20] H.B.1263 (IN 2016).

[21] Pence amendment to FY’08 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, H.R.3043, 7/19/07; Pence amendment to FY’10 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, H.R.3293, 7/24/09; Pence amendment to FY’11 Continuing Resolution, H.R.1, 2/18/11; H.R. 1, 2/19/11; H.Con.Res.36, Enrollment resolution to RY’11 Continuing resolution, 4/14/11.

[22] H.R. 1, 2/19/11.

[23] Hyde amendment to FY’02 State Department Authorization Act, H.R.1646, 5/16/01; Smith and Stupak Amendment to FY’08 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, H.R.2764, 6/21/07; H.R. 1, 2/19/11.

[24] Smith motion to strike Crowley amendment to FY’04/05 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, H.R.1950, 7/15/03; H.R. 1, 2/19/11.

[25] Smith amendment to FY’06 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, H.R.2601, 7/19/05.

[26] Jesse Wells, Federal funding for State insurance program doesn’t change Pence’s objection to Affordable Care Act, Fox59.com, Jul. 23, 2015, available at http://fox59.com/2015/07/23/federal-funding-for-state-insurance-program-doesnt-change-pences-objection-to-aca/ (last visited Jul. 14, 2016).

Source: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org

 

 

 


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