Vice President Mike Pence has been crucified and vilified on the internet and social media for his pro-life stance. While everyone is welcome to their opinion under free speech, there is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate quotes upon which to form those opinions.
PolitiFact reveals that a quote attributed to then-Indiana Gov. Pence suggesting women would claim rape to obtain an abortion is false.
Pence was quoted on the internet as allegedly saying, “We’d then have an epidemic of women claiming to have been raped just so they could have an abortion,” and “Allowing rape victims to have abortions will lead to women trying to get raped,” the PunditFact blog states.
However, Politicot.com, where the fake quote may have originated, was described by PunditFact as a “humor/satire platform” that focuses on entertainment-based stories.
Furthermore, the fact checker states, “The story originated on a family of websites known for creating stories based on real events, but with made-up details in what it describes as an attempt to be funny.”
The fact checker rated the quote as “Pants On Fire!”, meaning completely false.
Pence is the former governor of Indiana who has a longtime pro-life position and a lengthy pro-life record putting pro-life legislation into law and voting pro-life as a member of Congress.
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“Let me be clear: People who know me well know I’m pro-life, and I don’t apologize for it,” he said previously. “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, where it belongs.”
As governor of Indiana, Pence also signed legislation banning abortions on babies because of prenatally detected genetic conditions, gender, race, ethnicity, or other factors; required ultrasounds to be done on all women prior to undergoing an abortion, and mandated that children who had been aborted be given a dignified burial or cremation.
For there to be such a quote about Governor Pence advocating abortion for rape would be wildly out of character, and would make legitimate news if it were true for being so out of character of how the Indiana governor has consistently voted.
“More than 240 years ago, our founders wrote words that have echoed through the ages. They declared these truths to be self-evident, that we are all endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Pence stated at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. last week.
He reflected on sentiments that Roe vs. Wade may be casting a dark ominous shadow over these founding words, and reflected hope that would soon change with the new administration.
Pence summarized his views most succinctly at a presentation at Liberty University last fall, CNN reported.
“I believe a society can be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable. The aged. The infirm. The disabled. And the unborn,” Pence stated. “I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it.”
