Mike Pence made no secret of where his priorities are when it comes to governing. Pandering to the extremists in the religious right comes before the reproductive health of women, especially poor women and he'd prefer to shut down the government to funding Planned Parenthood. Just shameless.
Media Matters Political Correction has more -- Would Rep. Pence Shut Down The Government Over Planned Parenthood Funding? "Of Course":
This morning on MSNBC, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) restated his commitment to his moral crusade against Planned Parenthood, once again letting down the Americans who voted for Republicans in hopes they would focus on job creation. There's no clearer evidence of the GOP's misplaced priorities than Pence's declaration today that "of course" he would be willing to "hold up this entire budget" — which would result in a government shutdown — over the defunding of Planned Parenthood.
WILLIE GEIST (CO-HOST): Are you willing to hold up this entire budget over defunding Planned Parenthood?
PENCE: Well— well of course I am. I think the American people have begun to learn that the largest abortion provider in the country is also the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X, and they want to see that come to an end. I think there's a broad consensus in this country, regardless of where you stand on the subject of abortion, there's a broad consensus for decades now opposing public funding of abortion and abortion providers. ... We're going to dig in and we're going to fight for the principle that taxpayers should not have to subsidize the largest abortion provider in the country, namely Planned Parenthood of America.
And as they noted, or course Mike Pence is lying here:
The funds Planned Parenthood receives through Title X go to family planning and health services other than abortion — things like pap smears and birth control. Pence's defunding efforts have nothing to do with separating federal tax dollars from abortion funding, since they're already separate; his amendment will undermine the ability of Planned Parenthood to provide any services because they also provide abortions — a much more radical objective.
Perhaps that's why he's had to manufacture the "broad consensus" he claims support him; in fact, a majority of voters oppose cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Being willing to shut down the government in the name of a rather meaningless moral crusade is such an extreme position that co-host Joe Scarborough (a former Republican congressman) incredulously asked Pence to clarify — twice.
