POLITICO: How Mike Pence’s ‘Indiana mafia’ took over health care policy
“…[B]ehind the scenes, [U.S. Vice President Mike] Pence has developed his own sphere of influence in an agency lower on Trump’s radar: Health and Human Services. … ‘There have been many staff level meetings on pro-life issues with HHS. He and the president will always advocate for pro-life policies,’ a White House official said of Pence’s involvement at the health department. … Pence is far from the only administration official with deeply held anti-abortion views; HHS and the White House staff include numerous appointees with roots in anti-abortion organizations or the offices of conservative Republican lawmakers most active in opposing abortion rights. … These conservative and religious views have played into the administration’s foreign as well as domestic policy. Internationally, Trump and Pence have gone beyond even other Republican administrations … by expanding the so-called Mexico City policy barring U.S. [global health] foreign aid to [foreign nongovernmental] groups that promote or provide abortion…” (Pradhan/Ollstein, 5/20).