Clinton’s VP Pick Just Gave an Eloquent Defense of a Woman’s Right to Choose

“We trust American women.”

Julio Cortez/AP


At the end of Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate—which was full of interruptions and topical tangents—Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) cut through the chaos to deliver an eloquent defense of reproductive rights, after moderator Elaine Quijano asked the candidates to speak about social issues and their religious faith.

Kaine said that when it comes to making decisions around pregnancy, “We trust American women to do that.”

“I think you should live your moral values,” Kaine added, after speaking earlier about his own sense of conflict between his Catholic faith and some of the policy decisions he faced in politics. “But the very last thing the government should do is to punish women who make reproductive choices. And that is the fundamental difference between a Clinton-Kaine ticket and a Trump-Pence ticket.”

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