GOP candidates wage war on Planned Parenthood

>>> bogey man. two guesses and two words on the favorite target this election cycle.

>> they eliminate all finneds for planned parent hood .

>> cut the funding for planned parent hood .

>> planned parent hood in my administration will be zeroed out.

>> planned parent hood is such explosive stuff, newt gingrich thinks it's a useful weapon to get his rival in chief, mitt romney .

>> as governor, he put planned parent hood in romney care by name and as governor romney care has tax-paid abortions.

>> the president of planned parent hood ,y is seal ciel richard.

>> hi, martin.

>> how do you react when virtually never every single republican candidate chasing the nomination takes the opportunity to attack your organization and indeed wish that it didn't exist?

>> well, i just -- i actually think it's been extraordinary to see this republican presidential primary where the fight is not about who's bad for women and women 's health, but really who could be worse. and this is all across the board. i know you showed some clips, but including governor romney , who has pledged to end the national family planning program, who has pledged to end access to planned parenthood , and who has pledged to end roe versus wade . it's really quite extraordinary.

>> one of the big buzz words from the gop this year, as you know, is a personhood amendment, which wouldn't just ban a woman's right to choice, it would effectively ban birth control and in vitro fertilization. it was so controversial, mississippi voted it down this year. so the majority of voters in mississippi appear to be too liberal for the gop candidates.

>> that's correct. no, it's absolutely amazing. you see governor romney again supporting a personhood amendment, which would, could not only disallow and prohibit access to commonly used forms of birth control , but also as you say, prohibit in vitro fertilization, even threaten access to women to health care , women who have cancer, who need cancer treatments . that is why the mississippi voters overwhelmingly rejected this kind of amendment. and it's just incredible to see how extreme the republican primary has gotten in this race to see who could be worse for women . i think what they're really forgetting, martin, is at the end of the day , in november 2012 , the majority of voters in this country are going to be women . and they are likely going to determine who the next president is. and they're not going to protect the these kind of attacks on women 's health care access.

>> indeed. you're in new hampshire now, and as you know, new hampshire is the cite of the next gop contest, but your organization has been in founding fight in that state, i believe, since the middle of last year. how effective has the fight against planned parenthood funding been, do you think?

>> actually, i think what we've seen is an enormous backlash, not only here in new hampshire , but across the country, when politicians have tried to use planned parenthood and women 's health issues as a political issue. i was at an event last night. we had hundreds of new people, young people , there to support planned parenthood . and of course, we're providing forces here to many -- to thousands of folks every year. and what we saw nationally is when the u.s. house of representatives tried to end access to preventative care at planned parenthood , more than a million new activists joined planned parenthood in support, and many of them young people . and they're all voters.

>> just a final question, one of the things i can't understand, the hatred and opposition for an organization that spends 97% of its total assets , total resources and facilities, on basic standard health care for women , and 3%, 3% on this, you know, contentious issue of abortion.

>> right. well, the incredible thing, of course, is planned parenthood , we see 3 million patients a year, one in five women have been to planned parenthood in the united states . we do more to prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion than any other organization in america. i think this is a political calculation, i think it's a political calculation on the republican party 's side, and it has a very long-term detrimental -- it's going to have an impact on the party. and frankly, i think it's going to cost them votes of women in the november elections.

>> cecile richards , as ever, thank you for joining us this afternoon.

>> thanks for having me, martin.