Pence ‘dangerous’ to health

''Mike Pence is a devoted misogynist and anti-abortionist.'' Dr David Grimes

While Donald Trump is the ‘‘poster child for misogyny’’, his newly elected Vice-president Mike Pence is ‘‘far more dangerous’’ to women’s health rights, says a visiting American expert.

Dr David Grimes, clinical professor in obstetrics and gynaecology from the University of North Carolina, is in New Zealand to deliver a keynote speech to a major conference - about misogyny in women’s health.

On Thursday Grimes woke in Wellington to the news Trump who has campaigned on punishing women for having abortions and bragged about sexually assaulting them - had been elected president of the United States.

‘‘Mr Trump and his campaign tends to undo the ideals that I have fought for as a physician and as a citizen my entire life. Also as a veteran,’’ Grimes said. ’’Indeed, it now appears apparent that one can be a chronic liar, be unfaithful to your wife, ridicule people who are handicapped, or if their skin is a different colour, come from a different culture, a different religion, or if they’re women.’’

Grimes spoke to the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Conference Aotearoa - organised by Family Planning, the New Zealand Sexual Health Society and the Abortion Providers Group, on Friday. He shared his expertise on the application of parental notification laws for teens requiring abortions - laws which MPS recently rejected after a campaign to put the issue in front of Parliament.

In July this year, Parliament’s justice and electoral select committee released its report into the petition of Hillary Kieft and six others, calling for it to pass legislation to prevent under 16-yearolds having abortions without notifying the parents.

The committee disagreed with Kieft but recommended rules and guidelines should be strengthened to ensure under-16s were given the best possible information around post-procedure care, and encouraged to tell their parents themselves.

‘‘New Zealand is a far more enlightened country than the United States in this regard,’’ Grimes said.

‘‘They use these [arguments] about promoting parental communication, it doesn’t. It’s simply another attempt to put obstacles between women seeking care, and compassionate care. I’m speaking on the impact it’s had in the US, and there’s not a shred of evidence it’s helped young women in any way.’’

Rather, in states where the practice had been applied it had drastically reduced the number of abortions performed, and increased the number of girls travelling across state lines to get the health care they required.

Grimes said he would be relaying what he had learnt of New Zealand’s health system to colleagues stateside.

But he believed Trump would not have an immediate impact on women’s health in the US. He said Trump was unlikely to be able to overturn Roe v Wade - the historic 1973 decision, which made abortion legal in the US.

But the Republicans across all stages of government and in Trump’s Supreme Court appointments would ‘‘nibble around the perimeter’’ to make it increasingly difficult for women to access abortions.

‘‘Mike Pence is actually more dangerous than Donald Trump, because Mike Pence is a devoted misogynist and anti-abortionist,’’ Grimes said.

Pence had legislation pending, which would require women who had an abortion to hold a burial for the foetus.

‘‘To make it as punishing as possible for women, and that’s the notion that we heard Trump say in an unscripted interview - that women should be punished.’’ NZ