USA TODAY International Edition
Pence pledges to fight abortion, Planned Parenthood
Tells values summit Trump is their man
Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence told a gathering of social and religious conservatives Saturday he would be their champion in the White House, particularly in fighting abortion and Planned Parenthood.
“Let me assure you the TrumpPence administration will stand for the sanctity of life and defend the unborn from the first day that we take office,” Indiana’s governor told the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit. “I want to live to see the day that we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law and we send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history.”
Pence touted his record of trying to end government funding for Planned Parenthood and the “trailblazing” anti- abortion bill he signed into law this year that has since been suspended by a federal judge.
Pence promised that if he and Trump are elected, they would end late- term abortions, continue to bar certain federal funds from paying for abortions, defund Planned Parenthood and appoint federal justices “in the tradition of” Antonin Scalia.
But when Trump spoke at the three- day annual conference Friday, he did not mention abortion.
“Donald Trump doesn’t talk a lot about specific policies,” Tony Perkins, the council’s president, said Saturday when asked about the omission. “He talks broadly, because he’s not a policy guy.”
Trump did say he wants to repeal a 1954 law that prohibits taxexempt organizations, such as churches, from endorsing or op- posing political candidates.
“The ability to live your life according to your faith, that’s what’s at stake in this election, and Donald Trump has made very clear where he stands on it,” Perkins said.
But one of the assets Pence brings to the ticket is his solid conservative credentials, which could help draw voters wary of Trump’s record on such issues as abortion.
After Trump made comments earlier this year about whether women should be punished for having an abortion, he drew rebukes from both sides of the debate.