Mike Pence Has Led a Crusade Against Abortion Access and LGBT Rights - Mother Jones

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Donald Trump has reportedly chosen Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his operating mate, based on the Indianapolis Star and different retailers. It is a transfer that may certainly attraction to the spiritual proper, a constituency Trump has courted by meeting with evangelical leaders and promising to nominate anti-abortion Supreme Courtroom justices. In distinction to the thrice-married, previously pro-choice, ideologically versatile Trump, Pence is a lifelong conservative who might assuage evangelical voters skeptical of Trump's election-year conversion to social conservative values.

A father of three, Pence labored as an lawyer in personal apply and had two unsuccessful bids for the Home of Representatives earlier than profitable the seat in 2000 and serving for 12 years. He was elected governor in 2012. He additionally has media expertise: Within the 1990s, he hosted The Mike Pence Present, a chat radio present, and described himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf."

In Congress, Pence was a champion of conservative and non secular causes. He voted towards measures aimed toward stopping LGBT discrimination and serving to households in poverty, and he supported federal laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. As governor of Indiana, Pence has introduced this Spiritual Proper-friendly agenda to the state and enacted numerous stringent socially conservative measures.

This is a abstract of his conservative document:

He isn't a fan of LGBT rights: In 2003, Pence, then representing the sixth congressional district of Indiana, co-sponsored an amendment that might have prohibited same-sex marriage. 4 years later, he voted against the Worker Non-Discrimination Act, which aimed to stop job discrimination based mostly on sexual orientation. Whereas in Congress, he opposed a invoice aimed toward extra successfully prosecuting hate crimes based mostly on sexual orientation and voted against the repeal of the army's "Do not Ask, Do not Inform" coverage.

He has made life more durable for low-income households: Between 2006 and 2009, Pence voted towards elevating the minimum wage, increasing health coverage for low-income youngsters, and offering further funding for Section 8 vouchers, which assist low-income households pay lease.

He refused to comply with Obama administration guidelines aimed toward decreasing jail rape: In 2014, Gov. Pence wrote to the Division of Justice to argue that the brand new guidelines "work solely to bind the states, and hinder the evolution of even higher and safer practices." He stated Indiana wouldn't comply with them.

He has supported deporting undocumented youngsters and sick individuals and favors constructing a fence on the border (sound acquainted?): In 2009, Rep. Pence co-sponsored a bill that might have eradicated automated citizenship for youngsters born on US soil to undocumented mother and father. A couple of years earlier, he voted in favor of payments that may have allowed for the detention of undocumented immigrants in search of hospital remedy. He additionally voted sure on a invoice—foreshadowing Trump's present platform—to construct a fence on the Mexico border.

He has decimated entry to abortion: In March 2016, Gov. Pence signed a measure prohibiting ladies from acquiring an abortion due to the race, gender, or incapacity of the fetus, making Indiana solely the second state within the nation to do that. The regulation additionally held docs legally responsible for wrongful demise if it was discovered that they had carried out an abortion motivated by a number of of the prohibited causes. These types of bans are opposed by a lot of the medical group, out of worry that ladies will censor themselves in relation to making troublesome selections with the assistance of their docs. Following the Supreme Courtroom's determination in a landmark abortion case in June, a federal decide blocked this Indiana regulation from going into impact.

He slashed Deliberate Parenthood funding, spurring clinic closures and an HIV outbreak: In 2011, Pence pushed an modification via the Home to defund Deliberate Parenthood. This modification helped kick-start a wave of state actions aimed toward eradicating authorities help from the ladies's well being supplier. Indiana was profitable in its efforts, however a federal decide blocked the regulation from going into impact. When Pence turned governor in 2013, Indiana continued to slash assets for the ladies's well being supplier. By 2014, state funding for Deliberate Parenthood had been reduce almost in half from 2005 ranges. The group was pressured to shut 5 of its smaller clinics, none of which had ever offered abortions, however they did present STD testing. Quickly, Scott County, Indiana, house to one of many closed clinics, turned the hub of an enormous HIV outbreak.

He gave safety to companies in Indiana that discriminate towards homosexual individuals: In March 2015, Pence signed a bill into regulation allowing enterprise house owners to refuse service to homosexual and lesbian clients on account of their spiritual beliefs. The invoice additionally allowed spiritual beliefs for use as a rationale for different types of discrimination. As my colleague Molly Redden described it: "An employer who refused to rent Jewish staff might cite his spiritual beliefs as a protection towards discrimination lawsuits. So might a landlord who refused to lease to Muslims, or a enterprise that refused to serve atheists." In response to this invoice's passage, athletes, celebrities, corporate leaders, and others criticized the state publicly, and a few even pulled out of deliberate enterprise tasks there. The band Wilco canceled an Indianapolis present, referring to "thinly disguised authorized discrimination," and Apple's chief government, Tim Prepare dinner, wrote an op-ed within the Washington Post slamming the regulation.

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