March 14, 2012 11:12 PM UTC

DeGette Rips Romney For Vow To "Get Rid" of Planned Parenthood

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• by: Colorado Pols

Buzzfeed, reporting on Mitt Romney’s latest vision for the destruction of Planned Parenthood yesterday in an interview with a local Missouri news station:

“Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that,” he said.

In context, he appears to be talking about ending federal funding for the giant health care provider and abortion rights lobby, a position he staked out last fall and a litmus test for anti-abortion activists who have made the group their top target.

You can imagine what Rep. Diana DeGette thinks of that:

“Mitt Romney’s declaration he would ‘get rid of’ Planned Parenthood is yet another dangerous and reckless attempt to score points with the far right at the expense of the health of millions of women,” said Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO).

“Planned Parenthood provides critical and necessary health services like annual exams, cancer screenings, and family planning for three million women across this country, and in some places their clinics provide the only care for hundreds of miles. In recent weeks women have come together to stand up for Planned Parenthood and the important role it plays in their health and their community. So today it’s clear once again that Mr. Romney’s ideas are too extreme for our nation and the women of America will not stand idly by while he threatens their health care.”

It’s not really a new statement from Romney on cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, but it is probably the most compact version of it he’s ever uttered into a camera. That alone will make it valuable footage for reuse against Romney in the general–once these lurches to the right have accomplished their goal and secured Romney the GOP nomination.

That’s true, we probably should have said “if.”