Friday, March 29, 2024

Pence in Iowa: “Donald Trump Will Advance the Cause of Life”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was in Iowa this weekend where he addressed social conservatives at the annual Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition dinner. During his remarks, Pence reiterated his full confidence in Donald Trump and made the case for Trump’s candidacy as a response to the increasing threats to Americans’ fundamental liberties:

“For the sake of the sanctity of life and all of our God-given liberties, Iowa let’s ensure that the next president making appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States of America is president Donald Trump,” Pence said to a standing ovation. “In these challenging times, Donald Trump will stand for the freedoms enshrined in all of us, including the freedom of religion.”

Pence, who opened with his trademark introduction of describing himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” described Trump as a man motivated by his faith and family.

“We both come from the same place: a foundation of faith, family, and a belief in the boundless potential of the American people,” Pence said.

Pence said he thinks Trump’s candidacy has tapped into a movement that he said is “stirring across America.”

“After years of more government, more taxes and condescending attitudes toward traditional values unfurling out of Washington, D.C., toward people of faith all across Iowa and all across this country by the millions, the hinge of history is swinging in the direction of faith and freedom, and I literally see it every day,” Pence said.

On the issue of abortion in particular, echoing a letter from Trump to pro-life leaders last week, Pence identified three pro-life objectives which a Trump-Pence administration would pursue if elected:

A President Donald Trump will advance the cause of life. We will sign into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, ending late-term abortions in America. Donald Trump and I, different from Hillary Clinton — we will not repeal the Hyde Amendment but we recognize that it’s simply morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use it to fund abortion. We will work to make the Hyde Amendment a permanent part of American law and American policy. And Donald Trump and I believe the largest abortion provider in America should not be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X. We will work to defund Planned Parenthood once and for all and redirect those resources to women’s health clinics in our cities that do not promote abortion.

Pence also restated Trump’s commitment to the cause of religious liberty — and particularly to the repeal of the Johnson Amendment:

And Donald Trump, in these challenging times, Donald Trump will stand for the freedoms enshrined in our Bill of Rights, including the freedom of religion. Throughout our history, a study of American history shows that it’s been the voices of communities of faith and the free exercise thereof that’s driven America forward to a more perfect union. … Today, thanks to Donald Trump’s leadership, more and more Americans have come to realize that things have changed in the law. Where throughout our history the voice of faith, and of the church particularly, has been a vibrant voice in the public square, it’s been a diminishing voice in recent decades. …

I’m proud to say that thanks to [Trump’s] leadership, for the first time in the history of the Johnson Amendment, this year, the Republican Party’s national platform is calling for a full repeal of the Johnson Amendment, and a President Donald Trump will sign the bill and take the muzzle off voices of faith. And America will be richer and stronger for it.

You can watch Pence’s full remarks here.

Paul Dupont is the managing editor for ThePulse2016.com.

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