What Are Tim Kaine's Views On Abortion? Hillary's Running Mate Is Very Religious

Hillary Clinton announced her running mate on Friday night for the 2016 presidential election and that man is Tim Kaine. It is time for the American people to get to know the Senator a little bit better on all aspects of his political career and voting history on issues like abortion or the death penalty causing some to ask — what are Tim Kaine's views on abortion?

The democrat might upset some liberals as he is very religious and unfortunately for some, has been against abortion in the past. The BBC labels him the "Spanish speaking, anti-abortion Democratic senator" and the Washington Post labels him as "sensible and prudent" — meaning, he is more on the conservative side when it comes to his views and stance on the controversial subject. According to the BBC, Kaine is a known, practicing Roman Catholic and "personally opposed to abortion."

While Kaine believes that a woman has the right to choose, he also supports a variety of specific restrictions on abortion. According to the Washington Post describes his stance on abortion as "complicated" to say the least — and they're right. According to Heavy, Kaine does not believe in restricting public abortion funding or overturning Roe v. Wade but he does believe in restricting partial birth abortions, parental consent, and informed consent as well as abstinence based education. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has been vocal about being adamantly pro-choice.

But while his religion prohibits him fully supporting abortion but there is a silver lining — Kaine has voted against defunding Planned Parenthood in the past. Kaine currently has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood — as he actively voted for the funding of Planned Parenthood while serving as a Senator and voting against various bill to defund it. That is great news for women supporters of Hillary Clinton and now the Clinton/Kaine ticket.

And despite being a devout Roman Catholic, Kaine makes sure to note that while his religion might contribute to his morals and beliefs, it never gets in the way of his political decisions. Kaine firmly believes that the "state should not impose a moral view on others." So while he might have personal convictions about abortion, at the end of the day Kaine believes that government leaders shouldn't have to impose their moral view on others.

"I take an oath to uphold the laws of the commonwealth," Kaine said, according to the Daily Beast. "My church doesn't make me cross my fingers when I do."

While Kaine might not have as firm and direct of a stance on abortion as Hillary Clinton does, his stance also does show that he stands by his values. Not to mention, his track record with voting with Planned Parenthood is really impressive.