Last week, my coworker started talking about calling the Indiana governor to tell him about her period.
Did I hear that right? I thought.
But, yes, I did. It is all part of a movement that started this April dubbed “Periods for Pence”.
Last month, March of 2016, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signed a bill (HEA 1337) adding broad limits to women’s access to abortion, as well as restrictions on doctors performing abortions. It should be noted that Indiana already has many restrictions regarding abortions; these new limitations make abortions close to banned in the state of Indiana and make Indiana the most restrictive state in the case of abortions.
The added constraints in this bill include the mother’s abortion of the fetus due to race, gender, and/or disability. Additionally, the bill states that miscarried or aborted fetuses must be buried or cremated. The already-existing restrictions on abortions in Indiana include: forcing women to receive state-directed counseling that many think is used as a method to discourage the mother from having an abortion.
Many women are taking to creative methods to protest the bill; the movement started with women from Indiana but has quickly spread. The movement started with a Facebook page, urging women to call Gov. Mike Pence and detail their periods, anatomy, or physiology. The first Facebook status, pictured below, explains the reasoning behind why women are calling Gov. Pence. But to sum it up, the female population wants to report their menstrual cycles because Gov. Pence clearly knows what is best for the female body. They would also rather report their periods and cover their bases than hide anything from the government.
All in all, social media is providing a new form of protest for these women and these phone calls are making statements urging the government to stop controlling the female body.
If you want to let Govenor Pence know how your body is doing, the number is 317-232-4567.