George Takei Exposes a Truth About Donald Trump's VP Pick
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A post on George Takei's Facebook page highlights some major concerns about Donald Trump's vice presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
He wrote:
"It took a boycott of his state to ensure LGBTs weren't targeted and harmed by the law he signed. It took the federal courts to stop his extremist anti-abortion law. I truly worry what kind of policies would be proposed with him in the #2 spot."
Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore - wikimedia.org
The first part of the post refers to Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by Pence. The law, which permitted businesses to legally discriminate against LGBT individuals, garnered widespread criticism from a range of public figures and celebrities, among others, USA Today reported. Even Apple chief executive Tim Cook wrote an op-ed bashing the law in The Washington Post.
After the backlash, Pence signed a revision to the law that prohibited it "from being used to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity," IndyStar reported in April 2015.
The post on Takei's Facebook page also calls out Pence's horrible track record when it comes to restricting abortion in his state. In March, "Pence signed a bill that, among other restrictions, bans abortion sought because of a fetal anomaly like Down syndrome and requires abortion providers to bury or cremate fetal tissue," Daily Beast reports.
But his war on women's rights didn't end there. As Sarah Kliff of Politico writes, "nobody hates Planned Parenthood quite as much as Mike Pence," who doesn't merely want to deny the women's health organization funding for reproductive health services; he wants to deny it funding for all services.
“If Planned Parenthood wants to be involved in providing counseling services and HIV testing, they ought not be in the business of providing abortions,” Pence told POLITICO. “As long as they aspire to do that, I’ll be after them.”
