Ever since Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was announced as Hillary Clinton's running mate, I've seen a lot of hemming and hawing on Twitter about how he's a boring choice who probably doesn't even support reproductive rights. Well, I can't help you with the boring part. I confess I had dreams of a blue-suited all-lady ticket with HRC and Elizabeth Warren joining forces like Daenarys Targaryen and Yara Greyjoy to crush the GOP's paternalistic vanity project—VALAR MORGHULIS—and compared to that, an old white man can only impress so much, even if does speak fluent Spanish.
But the other part? The abortion thing? Let's get into it.
Kaine's support for abortion rights is not uncomplicated. He's Catholic, and personally opposes abortion, but supports abortion rights. His early record on reproductive rights was mixed—he's backed some objectively bad legislation—but he's evolved on the issue, which is something that sometimes happens to adults. As a member of the Senate, he's consistently voted in support of reproductive rights. He also has the approval of NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood, two of the nation's biggest reproductive rights advocacy groups. Kaine isn't an advocate for reproductive rights in the way Hillary is, but he's reliably pro-choice.
Kaine has a well-documented history of privileging the law over his personal beliefs, the value of which I wish more elected officials understood. The Sunday New York Times (my one joy in life) had an interesting piece on Kaine's personal opposition to the death penalty:
His handling of capital punishment reveals a central truth about Mr. Kaine: He is both a man of conviction and very much a politician, a man of unshakable faith who nonetheless recognizes — and expediently bends to, his critics suggest — the reality of the Democratic Party and the state he represents.
He opposes both abortion and the death penalty, he has said, because “my faith teaches life is sacred.” Yet he strongly supports a woman’s right to choose and has a 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood. And Mr. Kaine presided over 11 executions as governor, delaying some but granting clemency only once.
I don't like the conflation of abortion with the death penalty here, which is imprecise at best. But I do think that there's some value in a lawmaker who, you know, values the law, even and especially over his religion. It's something I wish more politicians understood—especially the hard-right Christian politicos who think that a sincerely-held belief is justification for such ills as state-approved discrimination and writing misogyny into law (something our old friend Mike Pence knows a lot about).
Tim Kaine may not be as fun as our wisecracking uncle Joe Biden (who, incidentally, is also personally opposed to abortion but supports reproductive rights), and it sure took him a while to get there, but yeah, he's pro-choice.