Illinoisans Want to Talk About Birth Control

Try as he might to focus his last day of Illinois campaigning on the economy, Mitt Romney cannot avoid the topic of birth control. While at Bradley University in Peoria, Romney spoke on the economy but was derailed when his first questioner said, “So you’re all for like, yay, freedom, and all this stuff. And yay, like pursuit of happiness. You know what would make me happy? Free birth control.” The statement was met with both applause and jeers from the audience as Romney replied, “If you’re looking for free stuff you don’t have to pay for? Vote for the other guy, that’s what he’s all about, OK? That’s not, that’s not what I’m all about.” The Republican frontrunner was then asked where “millions of women [should] go” for reproductive and sexual health care if Planned Parenthood is defunded. “Well they can go wherever they’d like to go,” Romney replied. “This is a free society. But here’s what I’d say, which is the federal government should not tax these people to pay for Planned Parenthood ... The idea of the federal government funding Planned Parenthood I’m going to say no, we’re going to stop that.”