NEW YORK — Abortion advocates have made donations to Planned Parenthood in the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, a pro-life supporter, so that he will receive official acknowledgements from the women’s health care provider, the group said on Tuesday.
The idea of making donations in Pence’s name arose and spread on social media as a protest after Republican Donald Trump won his bid for the U.S. presidency in a surprise victory last week.
Both Trump and Pence, his running mate, have pledged to curtail women’s rights to abortion. Trump said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v Wade legalizing abortion should be overturned and that he would appoint a pro-life justice to the nation’s highest court.
Pence, whose home state of Indiana has restrictive laws regulating access to abortion, has pushed for Congress to defund the nonprofit Planned Parenthood, which performs abortions.
A number of celebrities have publicized the donation campaign in Pence’s name with posts on social media, including comedian Amy Schumer and actresses Ashley Hinshaw, Jaime Perry and Amber Tamblyn.
They said their donations to Planned Parenthood included the address of Pence’s office in Indiana so it would get the acknowledgement that Planned Parenthood mails to donors.
Planned Parenthood has reported a surge in donations and demand for long-acting contraceptives since Trump’s election.
Pence signed a law this year that would have banned abortions due to genetic abnormality, criminalized collection of fetal tissue for research, required fetal tissue be buried or cremated and had women view their fetal ultrasounds before getting an abortion.
A federal judge blocked the law in June.
— by Sebastien Malo | Thomson Reuters Foundation