Mike Pence to James Dobson: Trump Will Resolve Birth Control Mandate, Transgender Bathroom Issues
In an interview on Dr. James Dobson's "Family Talk" radio show to be aired Wednesday, Mike Pence, the Republican Party nominee for vice president, says a Donald Trump-Pence administration would, if elected, resolve both Obamacare's birth control mandate and President Barack Obama's transgender bathroom policy.
The Christian Post obtained the audio file of the interview before its Wednesday broadcast.
"I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican … in that order," the Governor of Indiana, joined by his wife, Karen, tells James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, on the latter's radio show.
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"The Trump-Pence administration will be dedicated to preserving the liberties of our people, including the freedom of religion that's enshrined in our Bill of Rights." Trump's vice presidential nominee said when asked if their administration would issue a regulation to eliminate Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, or at least provide a religious exemption for all ministries and businesses.
The contraceptive mandate in President Barack Obama's health care law requires health insurers, or employers that provide their employees with health insurance, to cover some contraceptive costs in their health insurance plans.
We have a long tradition of accommodating religious beliefs in this country, the governor adds. "Our administration is going to err on the side of freedom, we're going to err on the side of protecting our liberties of our people."
Dr. Dobson also asked Pence if Trump-Pence administration will also deal with the Obama administration's "guidance" that public schools must allow transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and other intimate facilities of their choice rather than those matching their gender assigned at birth.
Pence said both he and the Republican presidential candidate believe that the transgender bathroom issue can be resolved with common sense at the local level. They should be resolved with safety and privacy of children and with common sense, at the state level, he adds.
"Washington has no business intruding on the operation of our local schools," Pence stresses.
Pence also tells Dobson that the interview is "the greatest honor of my life."
Americans are "unfailingly gracious," even those who don't support his ticket, Pence said. There's "optimism and determination," he adds.
Pence continues that what Trump, a New York real estate developer, says more often than anything else is that "this isn't about him, this isn't about his team or our party; this is a movement of people across this country, and we can make America great again."
Pence also underlines that his family is more important to him than anything else.
"I'm running for vice president of the United States, and I'm governor of the state I live, but the highest office I'll ever hold, the highest position I'll ever have is dad," he says, adding that whatever he has been able to accomplish is due to his wife, "the architect of family life for your kids."
The couple has three adult children: Michael, Charlotte and Audrey.
Dobson has endorsed Trump. He also said he heard that Paula White led Trump to Christ, but he's not sure if that is actually true. Trump appears to be "a baby Christian who doesn't have a clue" about evangelicals, Dobson later added.
Dobson founded "Family Talk," an organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2010. Prior to that he ministered for 33 years with Focus on the Family, which he founded in 1977.
