my guest tonight, she is the president of planned parenthood and president of planned parenthood actionlcome to the program cecile richards. [cheering and applause] how are you? >> fantastic. >> jon: you know, i have been watching the news recently. >> yeah. >> jon: there is a tremendous discussion going on in this country right now on women's health issues, contraception, mainly amongst i guess-year-old call them penissed americans. so we thought why not bring in someone without a penis to discuss how it affects the people that it actually are being talked about. >> that's big of you. and it's great. >> jon: let me say this. you're welcome. no, has that been odd to watch? >> it's incredible. it's absolutely incredible to see now, well, first that birth control itself is a topic of political debate in this presidential election. >> jon: you mean religious liberty. >> well, actually, yeah, i mean, for women, obviously birth control is not a religious topic, it's a health topic, and 99% of women in america use it. and at planned parenthood we provide birth control to millions of women eve

i don't see how he could get rid of planned parenthood. while they are dependent on federal and state funding, they're a private entity and i don't think he could get rid of planned parenthood, but as you noted, he has said he's wanted to defund planned parenthood before. on conservative radio he said that. in 1994, his wife anne gave money to planned parenthood and romney at the time said that was her donation and not his this is when he was pro choice, you might say. so, definitely an evolution on this. i think that will continue to this issue. broader point, similar point for the democrats to use as far as the argument they're putting forth on the war on women they've been trotting out for the past several weeks. >> i'm not going to play this 35 more times but it's worth listening to in context. here is romney again in st. louis this afternoon. >> what are some of of the specifics to lower the trillion dollars deficits, what programs did you want to cut or drastically reduce? >> the program so critical it's worth borrowing money from ch

planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. it is on tape. it was not qualified and it was said by former massachusetts governor mitt romney. the videotape now on "countdown." >> now on "countdown" and now they're calling each other liberals, and socialists. >> rick santorum is not a person who's an economic conservative to my right. >> this is the imaginary world of mitt romney's idealogy. sad. >> mitt romney's solution to a health care problem is to take over 1-6th of the economy. you can't call yourself conservative. >> almost doubled the sport of romney, but if only one will drop out. >> i will not leave the field. >> if we go all the way to convention, we would signal our doom in terms of replacing president obama. >> now some are running against religion romney's religion. the governor of alabama. >> i think that's a very subtle issue that may be a problem in many states, not just in alabama. >> on the other hand, we've restored the vote, volar i.d. law in wisconsin gone. voter i.d. law in texas gone. limbaugh bailing water, his bosses

here is your governor, thursday on the subject of planned parenthood.s want planned parenthood and their affiliate who is are in the abortion business engaged in this process. it's pretty straight up. >> under federal law the money is not allowed to go to abortions under this program at all. >> well, we would rather be very sure of it. >> well, there you have your governor confused as ever. what is your response to what he just said? >> let's just throw the supreme court decision and federal law under the bus. first of all, the proposition was correct. federal law does not allow these moneys to go to any entities dealing with abortion. it's been well known for decades that planned parenthood has a wonderful system of health care centers that allow access to poor women. women who are in my community and throughout the state who lives have an altered and changed for the better for this. to say we want to be certain, what i ask my governor, can he document case where is the federal law has been violated. this program has been going on since the bush admini

that's planned parenthood.lanned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> get rid of planned parenthood? why would he bring that up? he didn't always feel that way. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am dedicated to honoring my word in that regard. >> i think people recognize that i'm not a partisan republican, that i'm someone who is moderate and my views are progressive. >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. i believe that since roe v. wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it. >> he even attended a planned parenthood fund-raiser back in 1994. see! there he is. but what's surprising is he's talking about defunding planned parenthood now. right smack in the middle of this backlash raging across the country. 69% of americans don't want to defund planned parenthood. and i guess he hasn't seen the huge protests in texas, where women are protesting governor rick perry's plan to defund planned parenthood, going into effec

was planned parenthood under government investigation?ot unless you count this guy, republican congressman, cliff stearns of florida, who says, sure, he wants to investigate planned parenthood. cliff stearns, for the record, also wants to investigate whether president obama is secretly for ren and might secretly not be the president. cliff stearns, birther congressman, not exactly a barometer of the seriousness of government concerns. the idea there is something scandalous about planned parenthood is and has been a transparently fake controversy generated by the anti-abortion movement and their allies in politics and the fact that the susan g. komen foundation allowed theirselves to be part of that scam and looks to their supporters like an irreversible trail and hard to see how they retrieve their position as defender of women after playing a part in the demonize planned parenthood scam. in texas, the make planned parenthood into a scandal campaign has cost more than $35 million of federal funding for something called the texas woman's h

planned parenthood serves 50,000 women in the program.ederal government says denying money to the organization, a qualified provider under medicaid rules, is illegal. so it's pulled $35 million in federal funding. governor rick perry defends the state's decision. >> we don't want planned parenthood and their affiliates who are in the abortion business engaged in this process. this is pretty straight up. >> but under federal law the money is not allowed to go to abortion at all. >> well, we would rather be very sure of it. >> governor perry says the state will find the money to replace the lost federal dollars. but jose coe macho, who heads the texas association of community health clinics wonders where that money will come from. >> if planned parenthood is cut out of the picture, can your centers pick up the slack? >> we can pick up some of it, but there's no possible way that we can expand that quickly to take that many additional patients. >> you believe other providers will be able to pick up the slack? >> absolutely. >> what if they c

. >>> the fight in texas over planned parenthood. it could leave thousands of low-income women without access to important healthcare. this is the "cbs morning news." ♪ ♪ ♪ grande caramel macchiato. iced grande caramel macchiato. make that iced. actually, hot, please. [ male announcer ] come into starbucks for the espresso drink you love, hot or iced. [ male announcer ] come into starbucks mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. >>> before flying home last night, britain's prime minister david cameron visited the 9/11 memorial in new york. his wife samantha was in manhattan the day of the attacks. she left a bow coe at the memorial where they died, including 67 british citizens. >>> a bill likely to become law in arizona adds a wrinkle to the national debate over insurance for birth control pills. the republican-backed measure would

bush wrote in glowing praise of planned parenthood. his own father had been the first national treasurer of planned parenthood back in the 1940s. but today poppy bush swallowed all that and said he endorses mitt romney, who says he wants to get rid of planned parenthood. george h.w. bush negotiated deals with russia when they were still the cold war and they were still the soviet union. but that guy, today, swallowed all that and announced he was endorsing mitt romney, who is now questioning why president obama may be a traitor about even talking to the russias about an arms trade that poppy bush conducted with them years ago. mitt romney says one of the reasons that newt gingrich is unqualified to be president is because he once liked the idea of cap and trade. put aside for a moment the idea that mitt romney once too liked the idea of. cap and trade, poppy bush actually signed cap and trade into law back in 1980. poppy bush signed it into law in the clean air act of 1990. not just in favor of cap and trade, he signed it, he made it l

parenthood. >> of course you get rid of obama care, that's the easy one, but there's others, planned parenthood, going to get rid of that. >> caught a lot of flak for that comment, so 24 hours later he told the chicago sun times he didn't want to close planned parenthood parenthood. what i want to do is get rid of the federal funding of planned parenthood. a romney classic, no doubt about it. planned parenthood gets major funding from the federal government and it provides preventive health care to 3 million women every year. this is what romney says he would cut, and it's a matter of -- it's just going to hurt a lot of low-income women across this country. why, why do they have a propensity to pick on the poor? on a lighter note, romney's campaign is sick and tired of getting criticized for strapping the family dog on the roof of the car. well, a romney adviser said for crying out loud, with 8.3% unemployment, if the dog defeats you, you deserve to get defeated. president obama overcame reverend

planned parenthood 97% of the services that planned parenthood provides are services to poor women or services for cancer screening or services for breast cancer screening. there is a whole list of things that they provide for women that don't have access? >> >>. christine, what's your reaction to what romney said to the trail today? >> deep disappointment. they have gone from dog whist les to somehowing it that they are going to up and downer to the -- to pander to the. the poor women who need those cancer screenings literally in order to survive, and that won't be happening if romney is elected. second, romney has come so far down a dark path from the man who used to campaign for planned parenthood because he said he had a relative who had died of a botched abortion and he understood the need to be pro-choice. i will just simply quote dick scaif, conservative republican who said a year ago when the republicans started and declared this war on women's health he said on planned parenthood republicans and conconservatives are dead wrong. i agree with him. >> well, so do i. that was ver

. >> planned parenthood.e'll get rid of this. >> the army pulls its tieing and 53% of the country thinks he should be fired. if he could only under what is happening to him. >> how could i be ain't? i judged the miss america budget. >> and mr. don't interfere with law enforcement congressman peter king under investigation for secretly recording arrests and posting them to youtube. >> they're ready to fall and the other guys we've seen on television and manhunt-- >> whoops, congressman, do you need help picking up names you just dropped. and from op-ed hero to as far as. he quits gold man saxby writing a commentary about it in "the new york times" apparently just discovering after 12 years that wall street could be ethically corrupt and purely profit driven. >> i'm shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. >> your winnings, sir. >> thank you very much. ♪ >> good evening. this is wednesday march 14, 238 days until the 2012 presidential election. rick santorum winning the alabama and mississippi g.o.p.

earlier this month, funding was pulled from parenthood. the susan g comb men still reeling.chairman of the board for the cure and the c.e.o. are among the latest of a flock of top executives to resign. that board chairman has been looking to distance himself since the planned parenthood controversy rereputed. there are calls for the woman who started the charity in memory of her sister. >> approval rating dropping, voighters pulling support from the founder, almost the creator of the preabortion transvaginal ultrasound. he claims the war on women in a fabrication. >> it's false and it's been political theater from the democrats for a couple of months. >> you've been covering the >> thank you. >> let me start with governor mcdonald. political theater, he says. this would be political theater that features and opening act of transvaginal ultrasound. how does he say with a straight face that there's nothing to attacks from women on the right. >> honestly it's a political theater for the democrats put republicans up to an unprecedented number of laws. the minute they took over t

planned parenthood serves 50,000 women in the program.eral government says denying money to the organization, a qualifiered provider under medicaid ruleses, is illegal. so it's pulled $35 million in federal funding. governor rick perry defends the state's decision. >> we don't want planned parenthood and their affiliates who are in the abortion business engaged in this process. it's just pretty straight up. >> reporter: but under federal law, the money is not allowed to go to abortions under this program at all. >> well, we-- we've-- we would rather be very sure of it. >> reporter: governor perry says the state will find the money to replace the lot of federal dollars. but jose camarcho, who headline texas association of community health clinics wonder where's the money will come from. if planned parenthood is cut oft of the picture, can your center pick up the slack? >> we can pick up some of it, but there's no possible way that we can expand that quickly to take that many additional patients. >> reporter: you believe other providers wil

planned parenthood we'll get rid of that. >> he previously attended a planned parenthood fund-raiser and sought the endorsement when he was running for governor in massachusetts. this is as big a flip-flop as you can find in his entire repertoire. >> also a flip-flop for the republican party this, is not new to many listeners. think about the fact richard nixon and george bush father helped found title x, the family planning program which mitt romney wants to roll back. this is not a women's issue, ed. you know what it is? it's an issue for families in the country. any partner, any man who has a partner or spouse or daughter, he wants them to be healthy and have good health care, mitt romney is attacking that possibility. >> he's going after the poor as well. >> low income women, the poor. he wants to unravel the safety net in this country which is so frayed. >> 58% of americans have an unfavorable view of rush limbaugh. 70% think his comments about sandra fluke were inappropriate. yet he thinks it's all a white house conspiracy. here it is. >> anita dunn, obama's former advisor is t

and, of course he said get rid of obama care get rid of planned parenthood.will get rid of that is what he said. the federal government can't get rid of it because it does get some funding because it serves poor women. to me, though this this is subblim natural, anothernal, another way of saying to his base that he is going to go after pnned papaenen pairenthoooo anand renthood 97% of the services that planned parenthood provides are services to poor women or services for cancer screening or services for breast cancer screening. there is a whole list of things that they provide for women that don't have access? >> >>. christine, what's your reaction to what romney said to the trail today? >> deep disappointment. they have gone from dog whist les to somehowing it that they are going to up and downer to the -- to pander to the. the poor women who need those cancer screenings literally in order to survive, and that won't be happening if romney is elected. second, romney has come so far down a dark path from the man who used to campaign for planned parenthood bec

. >> in are others, planned parenthood. i'm going to get rid of that. >> romney visors attempted to control the damage. they used that pronouncement as a fundraising opportunity. >> we're going to get rid of that. >> 77% of americans believe birth control should play no part in the national political debate. that according to a new poll almost bloomberg. 62% say the contraception battle is a matter of women's health. say it's about religious liberty. i would like to bring in libby thanks for your time tonight. >> hi. >> the limbaugh story drips a little more each day. 53% want him fired in the bloomberg poll, that is a lot but that leaves him with many listeners, his job is not in jeopardy, is it? >> i don't think it's ultimately in jeopardy. he has millions of viewers but what is in jeopardy his role as mouth piece of the republican party. you see a lot of lawmakers prominent lawmakers like scott brown not afraid to disavow his comments completely. i think last time he was in the news and being really gone after by the pub

what i want to do is get rid of the federal funding of planned parenthood.doubt about it. planned parenthood gets major funding from the federal government and it provides preventive health care to 3 million women every year. this is what romney says he would cut, and it's a matter of -- it's just going to hurt a lot of low-income women across this country. why, why do they have a propensity to pick on the poor? on a lighter note, romney's campaign is sick and tired of getting criticized for strapping the family dog on the roof of the car. well, a romney adviser said for crying out loud, with 8.3% unemployment, if the dog defeats you, you deserve to get defeated. president obama overcame reverend wright and billy ayers, so seems the dog is being compared to jeremiah wright and billy ayers, very, very strange. joining me now is joan walsh, editor at large salon.com. great to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> let's begin with mitt romney and the planned parenthood, does he think he's going to win against the democrats and president obama doing it thi

planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> we're going to get rid of that, planned parenthood. welcome back to "hardball." there was mitt romney in that interview on tuesday afternoon, a day ago, with a local st. louis tv station. within 24 hours of his comment there, the democratic national committee turned it into an attack ad. >> planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> plant panderhood, we're going to get rid of that. >> well, that was lethal. funding for planned parenthood is a potent issue at the state level as well. today in texas, a republican-backed law that would have essentially shut down planned parenthood was due to go into effect. well, following angry protests in austin and nationwide criticism, texas lawmakers gave the clinics an extension to keep treating patients through april 30th. that's another month or so. have democrats struck political gold by portraying republicans as anti-women? and how will mitt romney fare if and when he makes his inevitable pivot to the center for the general election? melissa hendenberg is a political columnist. susa