Pence launches doomed presidential campaign on anniversary of landmark SCOTUS case Griswold v. Connecticut
Today, far-right extremist Mike Pence is scheduled to announce his doomed presidential campaign.
It is also the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, which legalized contraception for unmarried couples. In the decades since, the decision has been used to expand access to contraception and other forms of health care, helping countless Americans live freer, safer lives.
But no longer, if Pence has his way.
“Utilizing government interference to restrict the usage of contraceptives was a hallmark of the Trump-Pence administration,” said American Bridge spokesperson Grace Hagerty. “These two presidential candidates envision an America where the government has total control over an individual’s reproductive rights. They packed our federal courts with extremists who have put bodily autonomy on the chopping block. We can’t go back to the dark days of the Trump-Pence administration and on the anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut — the day Pence has chosen to launch his laughable bid for president — it is important to remember how they used every tool at their disposal to attack access to birth control.”
In Trump and Pence’s first year, the federal government weakened the Affordable Care Act’s protections for contraception access by allowing employers to deny access to birth control in employee health plans via personal objection.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, “In Trump’s first year in office, federal agencies weakened the ACA’s contraceptive mandate, allowing employers to deny birth control coverage if they had a religious or moral objection. Though the rollback was quickly tied up in the courts, dozens of employers signed separate settlements with the administration allowing them to refuse to cover birth control.”
In 2019, the Trump-Pence administration finalized a “Refusal Of Care” rule for health care providers that allowed them to refuse care for contraception over moral or religious grounds. This was eventually blocked by federal courts. Trump and Pence also implemented the Title X gag rule, forcing federally funded family-planning programs to reject government money or stop providing information on abortion.
Before being tapped to be Donald Trump’s vice president, Pence was one of the most extreme evangelists in the Republican Party’s crusade against birth control access. In 2011, then-Congressman Pence attempted to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding and as governor of Indiana, Pence worked to make it harder for Americans to access the care they need. Read more about Mike Pence’s record at repro-files.com.
Published: Jun 7, 2023