Obama says Romney would take women back to the 1950s

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Hill:

President Obama on Wednesday accused Republicans of wanting to take the nation "back to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century" during a campaign stop aimed at securing support from women.

Stumping on a two-day, four-stop swing through Colorado — a state where Obama needs strong turnout from women in November — the president sought to hammer home the benefits his healthcare law includes for families, such as free mammograms and contraception and cancer screenings with no copay

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"The decisions that affect a woman's health aren't up to politicians or insurance companies, they're up to you," Obama said during a fiery speech before a crowd of nearly all women.

Targeting Romney specifically, Obama said, "He said he'd 'get rid of' Planned Parenthood," as the crowd booed.

"He joined the far right to support a bill that would allow an employer to deny contraceptive coverage to their employees," Obama added. "Let me tell you something, Denver — I don't think your boss should control the care you get. I think there is one person who should make decisions on your healthcare, and that person is you," the president said.

Mitt Romney and the Republicans may spin their war on women, and specifically women's health, as a fight for religious freedom, or freedom generally, but their retrograde policies would effectively subject women to the control of theocratic overlords.

Romney himself may not always have been this extreme -- he did, after all, push through progressive health-care reform in Massachusetts, the prototype for Obamacare -- but in this election the contrast between the two options is crystal clear.