“Today, three generations hence, because of all of you and the many thousands who stand with us in marches all across the nation, life is winning again in America,” Mr. Pence ostentatiously announced at the Pro-Life March just a few days ago, the present crowd erupting in blissful cheer.
The preceding statement trickled with double-speak and ambiguity was yet another notorious example of Mr. Pence’s purposeful attempt to proliferate his conservative ideologies onto the masses and into the halls of our governance. In doing so, the former Governor of Indiana and the standing Vice President, deliberately ignores what he perceives to be a set of inconvenient truths—biology (science, in totality) and the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution, commonly referred to as the “separation of church and state” provision, first coined by Thomas Jefferson. Throughout his implacable career, Mr. Pence has frighteningly enacted much of his religious dogmas into viable pieces of legislation with great swerves of intermittent success.
Mr. Pence, whom self identifies as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican” has been at the forefront of the GOP’s attempts to curb women’s reproductive rights, strip them of health care, and restrain their sexual liberties—all of which, fall into the same vicious, adherent cycle that demand we shame our women for having non-procreative sex outside of marriage. He has presented the Hoosier state with the most extreme anti-abortion legislations in the entire nation, gutting Indiana’s funding to woman’s health clinics, requiring women to view fetal ultrasounds hours before an abortion is provided, and sponsoring a multitude of others bills that once again, undermine the health and wellbeing of women. Although the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports that abortions rates are at all-time low, Mr. Pence vehemently continues his crusades.
I have a great sense of veneration and reverence for all those who practice, worship and/or believe in a higher being. I recognize and respect that your faith, Mr. Pence, informs your life, as so often repeat, but why must your personal faith inform and guide my life as well?
As previously mentioned, Mr. Pence has devoted much of his life fighting mercilessly to enact preliminary legislation to all but overturn Roe vs. Ward (1973). In doing so, he has continually undermined the free-will and civil liberties of all American women. Although, only approximately 7 in 10 Americans oppose overturning Roe vs. Wade, Mr. Pence continues his plight. How, you may ask? Here, I will highlight a few striking examples.
1. Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Paycheck Fairness Act
Serving in the House of Representatives, Mr. Pence voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act two consecutive times, a bill designed to protect women against pay discrimination in the workforce, permitting women to file an equal-pay lawsuit in court if affected. Despite Mr. Pence’s outright attempt to block the bill, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law by former President Barack Obama on January 29, 2009.
And yet, Hoosier women continue to earn 75 cents to every dollar made by male counterparts. Although Mr. Pence has repeatedly promised to revitalize Indiana’s economy and help grow the jobs market, these bombastic statements littered with broken promises stand in stark contradictions to the present realities of Hoosier women. Accordingly, in 2013, Mr. Pence signed law capping Indiana’s minimum wage and other employee benefits, including paid sick leave if not “mandated by state or federal law.” In doing so, the former governor brutishly mustered enough support amongst his like-minded Republican colleagues to successfully block a legislative proposal that would have increased Indiana’s minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.00 per hour. To my own dismay and disappointment, Mr. Pence continues his plight against living wages, employee benefits and union representation.
2. House Enrolled Act 1337
Signed by Mr. Pence in early 2016, the HEA 1337 bars women from seeking an abortion on the basis of disability, gender, race or genetic anomaly, prohibiting abortion services even if the fetus had been diagnosed with a life-threatening or debilitating physical deformity. The law would have also required that the remains of aborted fetuses be interred or cremated in hopes of preserving the sanctity of life nonetheless. Such provisions would have undeniably placed further psychological stress upon vulnerable Hoosier woman and additional financial strain upon the miniscule amount of abortion providers left in the Hoosier state. In the eyes of Mr. Pence, “An abortion must not be seen a positive step for a woman to regain control of her life. It must be seen as a tragic bereavement” writes columnist Rachel Revesz.
Fortunately, the bill was struck down by a federal judge whom affirmed the law prohibited woman’s long-established constitutional right to abortion until fetal viability. Despite this, the bill’s intent remains clear— to once again, induce shame and humiliation within women for undergoing a legal medical procedure.
3. Indiana’s Proposed Personhood Laws
Simply put, these legislative propositions, vehemently championed by Mr. Pence himself, seek to classify fertilized eggs, zygotes, embryos and fetuses as ‘persons,’ granting them full legal protections under the U.S Constitution, including the right to ‘life’ from the moment of conception (the union of sperm and ovum before implantation to the uterine wall). Therefore, to simplistically summarize, once the sperm and egg meet, the pregnancy must be carried out despite complications that may occur.
Personhood laws also puts IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) that has helped millions of individuals procreate across the world into question. In the process of IVF, a multitude of sperm-and-egg embryos are manually created outside the immediate body, and only the strongest are implanted into a woman’s uterus. The rest are frozen, stored, given away and/or sold. Under the personhood proposals, will these fertilized zygotes be considered humans?
Clearly, personhood laws set a very dangerous precedent, lacking in both objectivity and fairness.
4. House Bill: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act (cosponsored by Mike Pence)
This misleading entitled bill would have seemingly made the Hyde Amendment, which currently requires yearly congressional renewal, permanent. Simply put, the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funds allocations from covering abortions with three exemptions—rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. Abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and other woman’s health clinics are routinely audited to ensure they implement such provisions.
However, this legislative proposal coins the term ‘forcible rape’ which critics object to, denouncing that the language deployed sets a cautionary, worrisome precedent and an overly limited, outdated definition of rape. Steph Sterling, director of government relations for the National Women’s Law Center says the following, “It speaks to a distinction between rape where there must be some element of force in order to rise to the standard, and rape where there is not…the concern here is that it takes us back to a time where just saying no was not enough”
During his address at the 2017 March for Life in Washington D.C, Mr. Pence ironically proclaimed “You know, I have long believed that a society can be judged by how we care for our most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, the disabled, and the unborn.”
Throughout his political career, Mr. Pence has positioned himself as a righteous and principled ideologue, but he simultaneously seems wholly uninterested in economic and social issues facing todays women. His incessant intent to defund Planned Parenthood, overturn Roe vs. Wade, and repeal ObamaCare further undermine the health and wellbeing of US woman. Although Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence fervidly deny that they wish to “punish” American women, their held ideologies and beliefs undoubtedly do (women like Purvi Patel).