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Twitter Reminds Everyone Of Periods For Pence

by Lauren Barbato

Mike Pence may become the vice president of the United States, but he already plays an even bigger, and more personal, role than that in the lives of Indiana women as the regulator of their reproductive health. The Indiana governor is known for his attempts to pass a number of bills to restrict women's reproductive agency, and commentary on those attempts resurfaced with a vengeance on Twitter during Tuesday's vice presidential debate. Pence has pushed various draconian pieces of legislation that, to me, are more degrading than anything Donald Trump has ever said (and that's quite the accomplishment) — and that includes the bill that spawned Periods for Pence.

Periods for Pence was a protest campaign launched by Indiana women in response to the Indiana governor's April attempt to pass legislation that would ban abortion based on fetal abnormalities. Pence called the legislation a "comprehensive pro-life measure" that would continue to protect "these precious children, mothers and families." Indiana women, however, had a different take on the law, which would also require women to hold either burials or cremations after their abortions and miscarriages. Women from across the state flooded Pence's office with calls, emails, and tweets about their menstrual cycles and other specifics about their reproductive health, given that the governor seemed so very concerned with the state of their uteruses.

Thankfully, during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, Twitter reminded us.

Periods For Pence

For people who are concerned with women's ability to maintain agency over their own bodies, Pence is no less dangerous than his running mate.

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