Washington: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday went on the offensive and accused Republican presidential candidates of holding views on women's health issues as those of "terrorist groups".
"Extreme views about women? We expect them from some of the terrorist groups. We expect that from people who don't want to live in the modern world," Clinton said at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It's a little hard to take from Republicans who want to be the president of the United States. Yet they espouse out-of-date and out-of-touch policies," said Clinton.
Clinton's accusation against Republicans' stance on women's health is not rare. Yet, Thursday's blistering remarks were so far the fiercest ones issued by the front-runner of the Democratic presidential field who does not shy away from playing the gender card this time, according to Xinhua.
As leaked videos surfaced recently which appeared to show employees of Planned Parenthood discussing the sale of fetal tissue, many candidates of the Republican Party, which generally oppose abortion even in case of rape and incest, called for cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Republican lawmakers, with presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz as a leading figure, were currently plotting a government shutdown fight over defunding Planned Parenthood.
Standing in front of some 2,000 supporters, Clinton said she took it "personal" when Republicans "go after women".
"I would like these Republican candidates to look the mom in the eye who caught her breast cancer early because she was able to get a screening for cancer, or the teenager who didn't get pregnant because she has access to contraception."
Republicans on Thursday immediately fought back, demanding the former US top diplomat to apologise.
"For Hillary Clinton to equate her political opponents to terrorists is a new low for her flailing campaign. She should apologise immediately for her inflammatory rhetoric," the Republican National Committee said in a statement.
