ICYMI: Mike Pence Lied About His and Trump’s Record On Abortion Last Night

For Immediate Release: Oct. 5, 2016

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In last night’s debate, Mike Pence flat-out lied about the Trump-Pence position on abortion, saying, “Donald Trump and I would never support legislation that punished women.”

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Pence: Donald Trump and I would never support legislation that punished women

Pence may have spent all night running from Trump’s record, but this is despicable. The fact is that both Donald Trump and Mike Pence would put in place policies that would punish women — Trump has even stated outright that he believed a woman should be punished for having an abortion. As governor of Indiana, Mike Pence signed into law some of the most extreme restrictions on abortion in this country.

Pence may know that his stance on abortion is unpopular, but he can’t hide from his record — or from what a Trump-Pence administration would mean for women.

FACT: 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 abortions. [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]]

FACT: Trump has said a woman should be punished for having an abortion.

• Trump once said that women should be punished for having an abortion. Duringan MSNBC town hall with Chris Matthews, he was asked whether and how he would ban abortion.  [MSNBC, Hardball with Chris Matthews, 3/30/16 (2:26-2:33)]

TRUMP: You’ll go back to a position like they had, where people will perhaps go to illegal places —

MATTHEWS: Yes:

TRUMP: But you have to ban it. […]

MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion: yes or no? As a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEW: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yeah. There has to be some form.

FACT: Trump wants to end access to safe, legal abortion.

• Trump has pledged to eliminate access to safe, legal abortion.

  • Trump said Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.

BRODY: But beyond judges, do you believe Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided back in the day, back in 1973?

TRUMP: Well I do. It’s been very strongly decided but it can be changed. [The Brody File, 2/18/16]

• Trump said being anti-abortion would be a litmus test for SCOTUS nominees:

TAPPER: How important is [being anti-abortion] to you now when President Trump picks Supreme Court justices? Would that be a litmus test?

TRUMP: It is. It is. [CNN’s State of the Union, 6/28/15]

• Mike Pence said that if Trump is elected, “We’ll see Roe vs. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs.” [The Los Angeles Times, 7/29/16]

• • Trump said the “biggest way” to ban abortion is “by electing me president”: “Asked on Fox News what one thing he would do to ‘protect the sanctity of life,’ Trump told host Bill O’Reilly, ‘I will protect it, and the biggest way you can protect it is through the Supreme Court and putting people on the court. Actually, the biggest way you can protect it, I guess, is by electing me president.’” [Huffington Post, 5/11/16]

  • Trump said that women should be punished for having an abortion. Duringan MSNBC town hall with Chris Matthews, he was asked whether and how he would ban abortion.  [MSNBC, Hardball with Chris Matthews, 3/30/16 (2:26-2:33)]

• Trump released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees, many of whom have a record of failing to protect women’s access to reproductive health care.

  • “Several of the judges on Mr. Trump’s list have questioned abortion rights.” [New York Times, 5/19/16]

  • Trump’s list includes Judge William Pryor, who has called Roe v. Wade “the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.” [AP, 5/10/16]

  • Many of the judges Trump has proposed “think the First Amendment protects a religious group’s right to discriminate against gays, and plutocrats’ right to buy elections, but not the free speech of students or abortion doctors” and “they don’t like economic regulation, abortion, or contraception, but they don’t mind stringent voting restrictions.” [Slate, 5/18/16]

• Trump appointed Marjorie Dannenfelser, leader of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, to be in charge of his new anti-abortion coalition. [Politico, 9/16/16]

  • Dannenfelser is a staunch opponent of Planned Parenthood and has said she wants to “stop all abortion” and “shut this organization down.” [Right Wing Watch, 8/6/15]

  • Dannenfelser has said her ultimate goal is to have all abortions outlawed “from conception,” without any exceptions. [Right Wing Watch, 5/19/15]

  • Dannenfelser has called allowing rape victims to access abortion “abominable.” [Right Wing Watch, 6/12/15]

  • Dannenfelser doesn’t understand how contraception works. She falsely claimed that birth control and family planning “increases” the abortion rate. [Think Progress, 6/9/11]