Late last week, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a despicable bill to allow people and businesses to openly discriminate against LGBTQ people, if they have a religious reason to do so. With a national firestorm raging because of this man's intolerance and bigotry, we thought it would be a perfect time to remind people he has always been an ideologue and a dangerous legislator.

In the Spring of 2011, a storm of discontent with Planned Parenthood was brewing in Congress. Indiana Governor Mike Pence, then a Congressman, had just introduced a bill designed to drastically reduce funding for Planned Parenthood of America. The bill would have crippled an organization that provides needed healthcare and family planning services to nearly five million women across the county. We knew we needed to reach out to key congressmen quickly and effectively, to let them know that this assault on women's family planning, pap tests and other screenings was dangerous and unwarranted.

Selecting twelve members of Congress we knew would be key in the upcoming vote, we called female voters and explained the dire circumstances facing the agency. We pointed out the fact that the bill offered nothing to create jobs, fix the economy or help constituents. We gauged the level of support of the women and asked them if they would be willing to speak to their legislator about the bill. After ensuring that each voter understood the talking points, we connected them with their legislator's office and had them deliver their message of disgust and disappointment at the bill. We focused on Members of Congress we knew were undecided or had not taken a public stance. We included key committee members that would be integral to defeating the bill. Over a short period of time, we patched through thousands of voters to our twelve targeted members of Congress.

Though we ultimately lost the House vote, our patch-throughs helped convince nine of our twelve targets (75%) to vote against the Amendment. In addition, our vocal voters helped convince more than one hundred members of Congress to sign a letter announcing strong support for Planned Parenthood. Our calls, and the ensuing outpouring of support for Planned Parenthood was instrumental in convincing the Senate to decline to vote on the bill, a huge win for Planned Parenthood and women's healthcare nationwide.

Mike Pence will continue to be a right wing ideologue. It is in his nature. The people of Indiana need to stand up and contact their legislators to tell them that they will not accept bigotry in any form. We need to remember that Mike Pence is a dangerous man, and always will be.