By PV Durga
America’s periods seems to have gone public big time! Donald Trump’s infamous remark at a Fox News anchor (if you can’t keep track anymore: he described Megyn Kelly as having “blood coming out of her wherever”) created quite a stir last year, with women live tweeting their periods to him. And now we have Periods for Pence- and we don’t mean that you bleed for money.
When Trump picked his running mate last week, women all over America probably groaned. Adding to his own infamous proclivities, he’d picked a politician with a huge reputation for misogynist policy.
Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s election mate, has been getting calls too. Women have been calling his office up to inform him about their periods. Pence believes that the state should be way up women’s uteruses policing it with a stopwatch and a torch. The slogan “Periods for Pence” followed his signing of the Anti- Abortion Bill, which has increasing number of shocking restrictions on reproductive rights.
The Bill, which is as “anti- choice” as it gets, states that doctors will be held accountable if a woman has an abortion because of the fetus’ sex, race, or disabilities such as Down Syndrome. In addition, the fetal remains, whether they are after a miscarriage/ abortion are to be cremated or buried properly, and this places restrictions on fetal tissue donations as well. Also, women are required to undergo an ultrasound 18 hours before the surgery. This is not the first time that Mike Pence has received flak for a bill. Let’s not forget his Religions Objections Law (which prohibits any state law that would “substantially burden” a person’s ability to follow his/ her religious beliefs) that cost him his political capital in his race to the Presidential Elections, because it was seen as antigay.
Mike Pence’s claims his are rooted in humanitarian grounds, because he said that a society can be judged by how it deals with the “most vulnerable”, including the disabled, old, and the unborn. What is irking people here is the number of restrictions, and numerous constraints that he has imposed on obstructing care at Planned Parenthood over the years. This spills over to restricting access to reproductive healthcare as well. Also, the Bill is said to affect poor women the most, because they might not have options to travel to other states away from Indiana for abortions. In the past Pence has also tried to pass a law that would permit government funds to be used for abortion only if quote ‘rape was forcible’. That one, luckily, didn’t work.
Meanwhile women are calling up the Trump campaign office to let them know if their periods are late, heavy, if their cysts are acting up because as they say:
https://twitter.com/periodsforpence/status/715271903439499264
The end of this issue is not in sight yet, but all this menstrual trolling maybe something the Republicans might want to take notice of. Unless the party decides that half of American voters are PMSing of course.