Mike Pence might have reached the national stage by signing a bill making it legal to discriminate against gays, then gone on to pass a “clarification” that didn’t, made numerous press appearances that were at best mealymouthed, and ultimately left himself in a position where his “Up and coming GOP star” label was replaced with “Next!”
But it was another piece of right-wing social extremism that secured Pence the mansion where Team Trump came calling on Wednesday. Discriminating against gays is a sideline for Pence. His main focus, back when he was merely Representative Pence, was destroying Planned Parenthood.
Abortion-rights advocates and abortion-rights opponents don’t see eye to eye on much, but they do agree on this: Nobody hates Planned Parenthood quite as much as Mike Pence.
Don’t think for a minute that Pence was just being careful about the use of federal funds for abortion. He wanted to burn it all down.
The Indiana Republican is on a one-man crusade to deny all federal funding to the group — not just the money it gets for reproductive health and family planning services, but every penny it gets for anything. [...]
This week, Pence went even further, introducing an amendment to the continuing resolution that would strip Planned Parenthood — and Planned Parenthood alone — of all federal funding.
Mike Pence’s restrictions on abortion go way beyond anything supported by most Republicans. Way beyond anything supported by most people who consider themselves pro-life. This is where they go.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill into law Thursday making Indiana the second state to ban abortions because of fetal genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome. [...]
The bill has been criticized by a national group of gynecologists and several female Republican members of the GOP-dominated Indiana Legislature, who say it goes too far in telling women what they can and can't do.
That’s Mike Pence. The most radical point of the anti-choice moment.