FACT CHECK: Mike Pence is so extreme on abortion, even his fellow Republicans have a problem with him.

For Immediate Release: Oct. 5, 2016

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Washington, DC–– In tonight’s vice-presidential debate, Governor Mike Pence doubled down on his dangerous position to ban abortion.

 

As Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence signed one of the most cruel and extreme anti abortion measures into law. This cruel law ignited national outrage, widespread condemnation in the medical community, protests across Indiana and even criticism from his own party.

 

FACT CHECK: Mike Pence is so extreme on abortion, even his fellow Republicans have a problem with him.

 

• In Congress, Mike Pence co-sponsored a bill that would have redefined rape in order to ban abortion. [H.R. 3, 1/20/11; The Nation, 7/15/16]

 

• Pence signed eight anti-abortion bills into law as governor of Indiana, including one of the most extreme, invasive abortion laws in the country.

 

• One provision of the bill he signed this year was so extreme that several anti-abortion Republican lawmakers in his own state objected, calling it “dangerous” and warning that it could lead to “back-room abortions.” [NYT, 7/16/16]

 

• The law sparked protests in Indiana and around the country, including more than a thousand protesters who gathered outside the Statehouse in Indianapolis after Pence signed the bill. [Indystar.com, 4/9/16]

 

• The law inspired an Indiana woman to launch a Facebook page called Periods for Pence, where she encouraged women to call Pence's office to report on the status of their menstrual cycle. Pence’s office received thousands of protest calls and messages via social media. [NYT, 4/7/16]

 

• Several provisions of the law were blockedin June by a federal judge, days after the Supreme Court ruled that similarly brazen restrictions in Texas were unconstitutional. [NYT, 6/30/16]

 

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

 

• Pence has repeatedly called for Roe v. Wade to be overturned: “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]

 

• In Congress, Pence cosponsored multiple so-called “personhood” bills that, if enacted, could have criminalized abortion in all cases from the moment of conception, with no exceptions, and even restrict access to some forms of birth control. [H.R. 552, cosponsored 4/5/05; H.R. 4157, cosponsored 11/13/07; H.R. 881, cosponsored 5/12/09; H.R. 374, cosponsored 1/20/11.]

 

• In Congress, Pence cosponsored a bill that would have allowed hospitals to deny abortions to pregnant women who would die without the care. [Huffington Post, 7/14/16]

 

• As governor, Pence signed a $3.5 million contract with a crisis pregnancy center to promote giving women anti-abortion propaganda instead of unbiased pregnancy counseling. The contract took $3.5 million from the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides aid to low-income families, and gave it to the Pennsylvania-based anti-abortion group “Real Alternatives,” to “promote childbirth rather than  abortion.” [The Journal Gazette, 10/13/15]]