Mitt Romney STILL doesn't get it on Women's Health
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We weren’t sure that it could get any worse after Governor Mitt Romney’s remark last week that he wants to “get rid of Planned Parenthood.” But as of yesterday, it arguably has.
Speaking at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, Romney was asked about where he would suggest “millions of women go” without Planned Parenthood.
Romney’s answer: “Well, they can go wherever they’d like to go.”
WATCH:
This of course ignores two key things: a) what if they WANT to go to Planned Parenthood, and b) what if there aren’t alternatives?
As Governor Rick Perry is learning in Texas, women know that Planned Parenthood is often the sole provider for basic health care. Just today two stories were published from women who used Planned Parenthood when they needed it most:
Courtney Everette, a mother from Chicago currently expecting her second child:
When I was 17, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that can cause infertility. During graduate school, when many of us "aged out" of our parent's medical insurance, Planned Parenthood provided me with affordable birth control, which manages the condition and prevents long-term damage to the reproductive system.
This is a twofer for Romney, as he also wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which allows young people to remain on their parents’ health insurance until they are 26. Either way under Mitt’s vision, Courtney loses.
And from Carolyn Smithers, a mother who wrote an open letter to Governor Romney:
Because Planned Parenthood saved my life 30 years ago, and because the breast cancer I have is hereditary, my girls get screened every few months at our local Planned Parenthood health center. Given our income and the State of Florida's programs, the only place my daughters can get their cancer screening is at Planned Parenthood. There have been advances in early detection, making Planned Parenthood my daughters' best chance for a long and healthy future.
You seemed so cavalier when you said you would "get rid of" Planned Parenthood, but you're talking about my life and my daughters' lives.
So, when Mitt Romney wants to “get rid” of federal funding for Planned Parenthood, it’s not to save money—it would “save” (or maybe just shave) “less than half of one percent what he says needs to be trimmed from the federal budget.” It just shows that he is woefully out-of-touch on women’s health.
