Mike Pence on Abortion Republian nominee for Vice President; Governor of Indiana; former Representative (IN-6)

A 15-week ban is an idea whose time has come

Err on the side of life to give unborn child every chance

Won't rest until sanctity of life is center of American law

We will not rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the country.

I'd like to see Mifepristone taken off the market

A champion of the right to life throughout my public career

National abortion bans ought to be part of the debate

I am proud to serve a pro-life president

HARRIS: There's the issue of choice and I will always fight for a woman's right to make a decision about her own body. It should be her decision and not Donald Trump's. Let's look at what else is before the court. It's the Affordable Care Act literally in the midst of a public health pandemic when 7 million people probably have what will be in the future considered a preexisting condition because you contracted the virus. Donald Trump is in court right now trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

Roe v. Wade worst Supreme Court decision since Dred Scott

"Pence also touted his policies on abortion, bringing up the legislation he signed in 2013 that banned insurance coverage for most abortion procedures. 'Life is winning in Indiana, because of the efforts of all of you,' Pence said. 'Life is winning in this state - I truly believe - because compassion is overcoming convenience. Life is defeating despair.'" [Indianapolis Star, 9/19/14]

"Pence also backs a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, saying he is against the procedure in all cases --including rape and incest -- except when the life of the mother is at stake." [Washington Post, 3/22/05]

Federal funding of Planned Parenthood is "morally wrong"

Q: Are you willing to hold up this entire budget over defunding Planned Parenthood?

PENCE: Well of course I am. I think the American people have begun to learn that the largest abortion provider in the country is also the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X, and they want to see that come to an end." [Media Matters, 4/5/11]

Proposed abortion bill that defined "forcible rape"

Trump is the most pro-life president in American history

Stands for unborn against Democratic "culture of death"

Tie-breaker vote to defund Planned Parenthood

Democrats all voted against the bill, as did two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski have long opposed attacks on funding Planned Parenthood, which they argue provides services for women in areas with scarce health care options.

Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, who returned after two back surgeries, was cleared by his doctors to travel for one day only to help pass the measure, but it took Pence's final vote to break the 50-50 tie. The measure will now head to Trump's desk, a onetime supporter of Planned Parenthood who adopted an anti-abortion rights position during the campaign.

We embrace life because we're better for it

PENCE: No, it's really not. Donald Trump and I would never support legislation that punished women who made the heartbreaking choice to end a pregnancy.

KAINE: Then why did Donald Trump say that?

PENCE: Look, he's not a polished politician like you and Hillary Clinton. Things don't always come out exactly the way he means them. But I'm telling you what the policy of our administration would be. Donald Trump is standing for the right to life. We can create a culture of life. More and more young people today are embracing life because we're better for it, like Mother Teresa said at that famous national prayer breakfast...

Partial-birth abortion is just anathema to me

Need Supreme Court justices who uphold Constitution

Periods for Pence: protest against interring aborted fetuses

The abortion bill requires the remains of aborted or miscarried fetuses to be interred or cremated. It also bans abortions sought solely due to fetal abnormality, including Downs syndrome, as well as sought solely on the basis of race or gender.

"By enacting this legislation, we take an important step in protecting the unborn, while still providing an exception for the life of the mother. I sign this legislation with a prayer that God would continue to bless these precious children, mothers and families," Pence said in a statement.

Prohibit abortion for race, sex, diagnosis of disability

ACLU opinion in opposition (April 7, 2016): Racial justice, gender equality, and disability rights advocates have opposed legislative proposals like the Indiana law. They point out that if politicians were serious about addressing inequities based on race, gender or disability status, they could expand access to high quality healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.

Legislative Summary:  Passed Senate 37-13-0 on Mar/1/16; passed House 60-40-0 on Mar/9/16; signed by Governor Mike Pence on Mar/24/16.

Defund Planned Parenthood for providing abortion

Commit to unalienable right to life, including the unborn

Our candidate must be willing to stand for the unborn and commit to appointing justices to the Supreme Court who will consign Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history.

And our candidates must be willing to deny federal funding to any organization that promotes abortion at home and abroad. It is time to end all federal funding to Planned Parenthood

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record.

For over thirty years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has been the political arm of the pro-choice movement and a strong advocate of reproductive freedom and choice. NARAL Pro-Choice America`s mission is to protect and preserve the right to choose while promoting policies and programs that improve women`s health and make abortion less necessary. NARAL Pro-Choice America works to educate Americans and officeholders about reproductive rights and health issues and elect pro-choice candidates at all levels of government. The NARAL ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Rated 100% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-life stance.

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 NRLC scores as follows:

• 0% - 15%: pro-choice stance (approx. 174 members)
• 16%- 84%: mixed record on abortion (approx. 101 members)
• 85%-100%: pro-life stance (approx. 190 members)

The ultimate goal of the National Right to Life Committee is to restore legal protection to innocent human life. The primary interest of the National Right to Life Committee and its members has been the abortion controversy; however, it is also concerned with related matters of medical ethics which relate to the right to life issues of euthanasia and infanticide. The Committee does not have a position on issues such as contraception, sex education, capital punishment, and national defense. The National Right to Life Committee was founded in 1973 in response to the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, legalizing the practice of human abortion in all 50 states, throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy.

The NRLC has been instrumental in achieving a number of legislative reforms at the national level, including a ban on non-therapeutic experimentation of unborn and newborn babies, a federal conscience clause guaranteeing medical personnel the right to refuse to participate in abortion procedures, and various amendments to appropriations bills which prohibit (or limit) the use of federal funds to subsidize or promote abortions in the United States and overseas.

In addition to maintaining a lobbying presence at the federal level, NRLC serves as a clearinghouse of information for its state affiliates and local chapters, its individual members, the press, and the public.

Prohibit transporting minors across state lines for abortion.

A bill to prohibit taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.

• Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit transporting a minor child across a state line to obtain an abortion (deems such transporting to be a de facto abridgment of the right of a parent under any law in the minor`s state of residence that requires parental involvement in the minor`s abortion decision).
• Makes an exception for an abortion necessary to safe the life of the minor.
• Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution or civil action under this Act that a defendant reasonably believed that required parental consent or judicial authorization took place.
• Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to one year on anyone who has committed an act of incest with a minor and knowingly transports such minor across a state line to obtain an abortion.

Bar funding for abortion under federal Obamacare plans.

A bill to prohibit taxpayer funded abortions and to provide for conscience protections, and for other purposes:
• No funds authorized or appropriated by federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law, shall be expended for any abortion.
• None of the funds authorized or appropriated by federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law, shall be expended for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion.
• No credit shall be allowed under the internal revenue laws with respect to amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or with respect to amounts paid or incurred for a health benefits plan (including premium assistance) that includes coverage of abortion.
• No health care service furnished or operated by the Federal government may include abortion.
• Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting purchasing separate abortion coverage or health benefits coverage that includes abortion so long as such coverage is paid for entirely using non-federal funds.
• Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as restricting the ability of any nonfederal health benefits coverage provider from offering abortion coverage, so long as only non-federal funds are used and such coverage shall not be purchased using matching funds required for a federally subsidized program.
• The limitations shall not apply to an abortion if the pregnancy is the result of an act of forcible rape, or incest with a minor; or in the case the woman is in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.

Ban abortions for sex selection or race selection.

Congressional Summary: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011: Imposes criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly or knowingly attempts to:

1. perform an abortion that is sought based on the sex, gender, color or race of the child, or the race of a parent;
2. use the threat of force to intimidate any person for the purpose of coercing a sex-selection or race-selection abortion;
3. solicit or accept funds for the performance of such an abortion; or
4. transport a woman across a state line for the purpose of obtaining such an abortion.

Sponsor`s Letter (Rep. Trent Franks):PRENDA restricts sex-selection abortion and race-selection abortion, and the coercion of a woman to obtain either. The woman seeking an abortion is exempted from prosecution, while abortion providers are held to account.

Opponents` Opinion (Erin Gloria Ryan on jezebel.com):Rep. Franks, a white man, has claimed that his desire to disallow `race-selective abortions` is based on his concern that the black community is having so many abortions. He doesn`t say how, exactly, doctors are supposed to determine that a black woman seeking an abortion is doing so because her fetus would be black or whether she`s just doing it because she doesn`t want to be pregnant. Let`s be honest here: this isn`t really about saving girls and minorities; it`s about eventually making abortion illegal. A sex-selection ban would present the Supreme Court with a dilemma: it dares the pro-abortion justices to embrace an abortion right to kill girls for being girls.

Prohibit federal funding for abortion.

TITLE I: Prohibiting Federally-Funded Abortions and Providing for Conscience Protections
• Prohibits federal funds from being used for any health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion. (Currently, federal funds cannot be used for abortion services and plans receiving federal funds must keep federal funds segregated from any funds for abortion services.)
• Excludes from such prohibitions an abortion if: the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; or the woman would be place in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.

TITLE II: Elimination of Certain Tax Benefits Relating to Abortion
• Disqualifies, for purposes of the tax deduction for medical expenses, any amounts paid for an abortion.
• Excludes from the definition of `qualified health plan` after 2013, for purposes of the refundable tax credit for premium assistance for such plans, any plan that includes coverage for abortion.

Prohibiting forced abortions by UN Population Fund.

A BILL: To prohibit funding to the United Nations Population Fund.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State may not make a contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

[Explanation from Wikipedia.com]: UNFPA has been accused of providing support for government programs which have promoted forced-abortions and coercive sterilizations. Controversies regarding these allegations have resulted in a sometimes shaky relationship between the organization and the US government, with three presidential administrations, that of Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush and George W. Bush withholding funding from the UNFPA.

From 2002 through 2008, the Bush Administration denied funding to UNFPA that had already been allocated by the US Congress, partly on the grounds that the UNFPA supported Chinese government programs which include forced abortions and coercive sterilizations, thus violating the Kemp-Kasten Amendment.

UNFPA says it `does not provide support for abortion services`. Its charter includes a strong statement condemning coercion. UNFPA`s connection to China`s administration of forced abortions was disputed by investigations carried out by various US, UK, and UN teams sent to examine UNFPA activities in China. A three-person US State Department fact-finding team was sent on a two week tour throughout China, concluding that it found `no evidence that UNFPA has supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China,` as has been charged by critics. However, according to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, the UNFPA contributed vehicles and computers to the Chinese to carry out their population control policies.

The EU and Japan decided to fill the gap left behind by the US. In America, nonprofit organizations worked to compensate for the loss of US federal funding by raising private donations.

Sponsored bill to prohibit fed funding of Planned Parenthood.

Congressional Summary:Prohibits providing any federal family planning assistance to an entity unless the entity will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion. Excludes an abortion where: (1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or an act of incest against a minor; or (2) a physician certifies that the woman suffered from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.

Wikipedia Explanation:Title X of the Public Health Service Act, titled `Population Research and Voluntary Family Planning Programs` is a US government program dedicated to providing family planning services for those in need. Title X provides access to contraceptive services, supplies and information. Priority for services is given to persons of low-income.

Sponsor Remarks by Rep. Mike Pence:It is morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion. Last year, Planned Parenthood received more than $363 million in revenue from government grants; and performed an unprecedented 324,008 abortions. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X. The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act will prevent any family planning funds under Title X from going to Planned Parenthood or other organizations that perform abortions. It will ensure that abortion providers are not being subsidized with federal tax dollars.

OnTheIssues Explanation: Federal money is never explicitly provided for abortions. But Planned Parenthood does provide abortions, paid for via private funds. At issue is the `fungibility` of money: Planned Parenthood can use federal funds to supplement their budget and hence free up other funds for abortion. This bill would end that practice.

Grant the pre-born equal protection under 14th Amendment.

Bill would implement equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person. The Right to Life Act declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being, and defines `human being` to encompass all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning.

Declare preborn as persons under 14th amendment.

A bill to implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person. Declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being beginning at the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Prohibits construing this Act to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.