Vice President Mike Pence visits Raleigh, Cary on Thursday

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Vice President Mike Pence made two appearances in the Triangle on Thursday one at the Christ Baptist Church and a "Cops for Trump" rally in Cary.

Several North Carolina Republican leaders participated in the event, including Sen. Thom Tillis, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for Governor, and Mark Robinson, who is running for lieutenant governor.

Pence's Raleigh visit was part of the multi-state Life Wins! Tour with the Susan B. Anthony List organization.

The vice president's office sent a news release saying he'll be "highlighting President Trump's record as the most pro-life president ever."

"I truly do believe that this rising generation will be the generation that sees us restore the sanctity of life back to the center of American law," Pence said in Raleigh.

Pence was joined by Forest and Tillis at Gateway Women's Care on Hillsborough Street before going to Christ Baptist Church on Newton Road. The event was hosted by North Carolina native Marjorie Dannenfelser, SBA List President.

"It's just an atrocity to kill something that is human and growing and alive, and we need to be fighting against that," Forest said.

At 2:30 p.m., Pence made his appearance at a "Cops for Trump" event in Cary. Pence accepted the endorsement of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association and heavily criticized Joe Biden's response to recent violence and failure to support law enforcement officers.

"Joe Biden, we know, got out of his basement this week. He went to Pennsylvania. After months of staying silent about rioting and looting and violence in the streets of our cities, Joe Biden said we have to stand against violence in every form it takes. But right after he said that, he criticized law enforcement," Pence said. "He never mentioned the anarchists and the left-wing mobs that have been sowing violence in the streets of our major cities. He never condemned Antifa. He never called out his campaign staff or his running mate that actually were raising money to bail out violent criminals. And Joe Biden never called out Democrat mayors or Democrat governors who have failed to quell the violence in their cities and their state. The truth is that Joe Biden would double down on the policies that have led to violence in American cities. And the hard truth is, you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America."

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Meanwhile, abortion-rights activists protested Pence's visit to Gateway Women's Care in Raleigh. Members of the Triangle Abortion Access Coalition organized a rolling protest with drivers honking their horns outside Gateway while the vice president visited.

"While he is here to kind of rally the anti-abortion vote, we're letting him know that pro-choice folks do vote and we vote in support of abortion rights and access," said Kelsea McLain, of the Triangle Abortion Access Coalition. "Women vote and we know and we're aware when you're attacking our essential freedoms."

Deborah Ross, a Democrat who is running for Congress and is a surrogate of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign questioned why the vice president wasn't planning on meeting with people affected by COVID-19, which she called the most important thing happening to people right now.

"If the president or the vice president want to come to North Carolina and talk about how to help women and families, we've got lots of suggestions for them but coming here and just touting records on things without helping our people is a photo op, and it's just wrong," she said. "We have people who are hurt. We have people who are in dire need and we have women and children who are suffering under coronavirus and this administration has failed them."

When asked whether Biden and Harris will be visiting, she said:

"I'm sure they'll be here. This is Ground Zero. We are the swingiest of swing states."

Last week, President Trump made a surprise visit to the Republican National Convention in Charlotte. After the convention, Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump visited a Farmers to Families Food Box program site in Mills River, speaking to a packed crowd. Trump visited a Morrisville FUJIFILM facility working on a COVID-19 vaccine in July.

Trump will be back in North Carolina next Tuesday when he visits Winston-Salem.