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One by one, Republican women of the Indiana state legislature rose to describe, in anguished terms, why they could not support an anti-abortion measure hurtling toward passage. They hated abortion, they said, but this bill went too far. It would have prohibited a woman from aborting a fetus because it had a disability, such as Down syndrome. ...Indiana’s governor, Mike Pence, waved off the objections of his fellow Republicans: He signed the legislation into law a few weeks later, enacting what advocates and foes agree was a sweeping and unusual set of restrictions on abortion that went further than any other state in the country and openly clashed with legal precedent. (Davey and Barbaro, 7/16)

Donald Trump just announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his VP running mate. If the name sounds familiar, even if you haven't been paying attention to the days of speculation about the pick, it's probably because of Pence's work regarding women's reproductive rights. The Republican first made national headlines on this subject in 2011 when, as a representative to Congress from his state's 2nd District, he sought to defund Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions. Until that time, the women's health organization had made it through numerous GOP Congresses and never become such a big target. (Cha, 7/15)

Donald Trump has already had problems making inroads with female, gay and minority voters. His vice-presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, could make things even worse. Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, has endorsed conservative legislation on abortion, gay rights and immigration both in his home state and while in Congress, where he was consistently ranked as one of the most right-leaning members of the House. He attempted to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding, supported a measure that made English the nation’s official language and signed one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws earlier this year. (Zezima, 7/16)

One Utah woman called Donald Trump’s presidential campaign on Friday with a question: Where should she send her used tampons in case of a miscarriage? An Indiana woman called with a different query: Could she go swimming, or would the chlorine in the water be harmful to her unfertilized eggs? And a Colorado woman had a message for the campaign: She may have lost a couple hundred eggs just today. The flood of calls, reported in comments on Facebook, are part of a social media push started by women in Indiana opposed to a restrictive abortion law passed earlier this year in Indiana that required the remains of a miscarried or aborted fetus to be buried or cremated. In April, women began calling Governor Mike Pence’s office in protest. Now, with Trump’s announcement he has chosen Pence as his running mate, the “Periods for Pence” push is going national. (Robbins, 7/15)

Donald Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate could finally make anti-abortion voters excited to vote for the Republican ticket. Pence’s long record of opposition to abortion has energized anti-abortion voters in a way that Trump has not. Pence wrote a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics nearly a decade ago — long before it became a GOP policy staple — and he has signed numerous restrictions into state law. That gives anti-abortion voters confidence that Trump will be a champion of causes that matter most to them. (Haberkorn, 7/15)

If there are now two poles of the Republican Party, and Donald Trump represents one end, Mike Pence inhabits the other. In choosing the socially conservative Indiana governor as his running mate, Trump is attempting to yoke together different pieces of the fractured Republican identity. When you look at what the two men have actually said on some issues, the ticket looks less like a union of ideological interests than like a clash of opposing camps. (Noah, 7/15)

Until now, health care hasn’t been a big part of Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. But conventions are about more than the nominee, and Republicans are likely to have something to say about issues including Obamacare, abortion, and perhaps even medical research. Here are the five biggest things to watch in health and medicine: (Nather, 7/18)

The Republican National Convention will be ringed by medical personnel from Cleveland EMS and the city's hospital systems to handle everything from minor cuts and bruises to an incident involving multiple casualties, city and hospital officials said. The medical response plan, 18 months in the making, will concentrate scores of paramedics, physicians and nurses inside Quicken Loans Arena and the streets around it during the four-day convention. The city's four hospital systems will maintain increased staffing and provide medical support around the clock. (Ross, 7/15)