Tim Kaine: “We Trust American Women” (VIDEO)

Tonight, Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine stated that he and Hillary Clinton trust women when it comes to making their own reproductive health care decisions without government interference, including whether or not to seek a safe, legal abortion, drawing a stark contrast to the Trump-Pence ticket that would “punish women.”

Statement from Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

“Mike Pence’s dangerous history of attacks on Planned Parenthood and reproductive care, coupled with Donald Trump’s unchecked hostility toward women, provide a terrifying preview of what life would be like for women under a Trump-Pence administration.

“Tim Kaine is fighting alongside Hillary Clinton to bring our country together. Senator Kaine has been an ally to women while in the U.S. Senate, earning a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund and fighting to protect patients who receive care at Planned Parenthood health centers in Virginia and across the country. With Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket, they are running on the strongest reproductive health and rights platform in history. Planned Parenthood Action Fund is ready to fight alongside them all the way to the White House.”

Watch here

Key quotes:

Kaine: “But the last thing, the very last thing the government should do is have laws to punish women who make reproductive choices. That is the fundamental difference between a Clinton-Kaine ticket and a Trump-Pence ticket that wants to punish women.”

Kaine: “ We support Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right of American women to consult their own conscience, their own supportive partner, their own minister, but then make their own decisions about pregnancy. That's something we trust American women to do. And we don't think that women should be punished, as Donald Trump said they should, for making the decision to have an abortion.”

Full transcript:

“Let's talk about abortion and choice. Let's talk about them. We support Roe vs. Wade, the Constitutional right of American women to consult their own conscience, their own supportive partner, their own minister, but then make their own decisions about pregnancy. That's something we trust American women to do. And we don't think that women should be punished, as Donald Trump said they should, for making the decision to have an abortion. Governor Pence wants to repeal Roe v. Wade. He said he wants to put it on the ash heap of history. We have some young people who weren't born when it was decided. This is pretty important. Before Roe v. Wade, states could pass criminal laws - to punish women - if they made the choice to terminate a pregnancy. I think you should live your moral values. But the last thing, the very last thing the government should do is have laws to punish women who make reproductive choices. That is the fundamental difference between a Clinton-Kaine ticket and a Trump-Pence ticket who wants to punish women.”