American women troll anti-abortion politician Mike Pence by calling his office with updates on their periods

‘I wanted to give a voice to women who didn’t feel they were given any input on a bill that would affect our lives so much’

Mike Pence, who has previously opposed needle exchanges, announced the programme yesterday (AP)

Indiana governor Mike Pence’s office has been inundated with calls from women this week who have been giving him detailed updates about their menstruation cycles after he passed a restrictive abortion bill into state law.

The law means that from 1 July women will be banned from having an abortion following “a diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the foetus having Downs Syndrome or any other disability”, or for reasons of race, sex or ancestry. Any doctor who performs an abortion for one of these reasons can be sued for wrongful death. Women will have to have their names recorded on a pregnancy termination form, while miscarried and aborted foetuses will have to be buried or cremated.

Indiana residents have responded to the news by joining together in the ‘Periods for Pence’ campaign, which encourages women to call the governor’s office and share information about their menstrual cycle. The calls are being recorded on a dedicated Facebook page, which has amassed more than 17,000 likes in less than a week.

The governor’s operators have been taking messages such as, “I just wanted to call and let the good Governor know that I am still not pregnant, since he seems to be so worried about women's reproductive rights,” and, “I need to get a message to the Governor that I am on day three of my period. My flow seems abnormally heavy, but my cramps are much better today," in the days since the page was set up.

Others have emailed in their messages. One woman wrote to inform the governor that she is pregnant and asked for advice on some “truly awful flatulence, early second trimester haemorrhoids [and] constant low grade nausea,” as “the advice of my medical professionals is clearly insufficient in your view.” Another wrote to tell Mr Pence that “day three [of my period] feels like a fat man having a fiesta in my half-Mexican uterus. He's really living it up. I'm happy he's enjoying his life but it makes mine miserable.”

Speaking to WRTV, the ‘Period’s for Pence’ creator, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “There more I read this bill, the more vague language I found and the more loopholes, and it just seemed incredibly intrusive.

“So I wanted to give a voice for women who really didn’t feel like they were given any kind of input into a bill that would affect our life so much,” they added.

While Governor Pence has called the bill a “comprehensive pro-life measure that affirms the value of all human life,” doctors have strongly opposed it. Indianapolis Brownsyne Tucker-Edmonds told the Washington Post: “It will require a woman, during one of the most devastating times in her life after learning of a foetal anomaly, to prolong her pregnancy even if against her wishes, and to potentially assume the greater health risks associated with doing so.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office told WRTV: “We are always willing to take calls from constituents who have questions, concerns or are looking for assistance.”