Lawmaker 'surprised' Boise Planned Parenthood 'hasn't been nuked'

A local legislator in the Idaho House said Saturday he didn’t understand why a Planned Parenthood in Boise hasn’t been “nuked.”

Vito Barbieri, the District 2 Seat A Representative from Dalton Gardens, made the remarks as part of a legislative panel for a Kootenai County Republican Central Committee morning town hall session at the Prairie Avenue Community Church in Hayden.

His comments came approximately an hour and a half into the nearly two-hour symposium, when Barbieri — along with fellow Rep. Ron Mendive from Coeur d’Alene — was asked how high he prioritized full bans on abortion. A full ban, such as a bill authored by Blanchard Rep. Heather Scott currently sitting in committee, differs from bans that defund medical providers performing abortions, such as legislation proposed by Idaho Falls Rep. Bryan Zollinger.

“There’s a schism now in the pro-life movement,” Barbieri said, “and many of the majority in the Legislature...want a unified voice. They want a unified voice before they’re going to support anything in the area of policy. So we have this schism...An absolute ban on abortion is the only way to do this, but you can’t get the bill heard.”

The longtime lawmaker then said the ramifications of legislation — including bills that would call for charging mothers and doctors with murder — made solving that schism politically unrealistic.

“You’re not going to get anywhere moving forward from here unless we unite,” Barbieri said, “and united doesn’t appear to be in the cards in the near future. I don’t believe [lawmakers participating in the panel] has any compromises about our pro-life belief.”

It was then that Barbieri conjured up images of the Planned Parenthood in Boise being bombed.

“I don’t know why, to quote someone down there, I don’t know why Planned Parenthood hasn’t been nuked off State Street,” he said. “I don’t know why America has not been judged — if you can say that we’re not being judged now — for...42 million babies worldwide murdered...last year. Judgment is coming. That’s not my job. We know whose job that is. We are all working to save babies: one baby, a million babies, we’re all working for that.”

Barbieri then finished by criticizing judges for what he described as overextending their reach, castrating the legislative branch and forcing what he demanded as a “radical change.”

“I believe the judiciary has WAY overstepped its power, and much of the legislature believes that if an individual in a black robe has spoken, God has spoken, and that is not the case...The only check we have on the judiciary is the budget, but we don’t cut that. We don’t exercise that power. Some say [that] would be irresponsible, and maybe it would be. But in my mind, and you know me, a radical change must occur. Something radical must occur for the legislature to regain its authority, and for us to have major influence on this one key element: shedding innocent blood.”

Mistie Tolman, Idaho director for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii — the area’s political arm of the reproductive health provider — swiftly condemned Barbieri’s remarks as irresponsible and dangerous while calling for accountability.

“We are living in a time with heightened partisanship, and anti-abortion sentiment from the Trump Administration on down to our local statehouses,” Tolman said. “The comments Rep. Barbieri made today, ‘I don’t know why Planned Parenthood hasn’t been nuked off of State Street...’ are deeply concerning, and we demand he take responsibility for this harmful language. Planned Parenthood has long been a target of anti-abortion violence, and comments like these only further incite violence. Anti-abortion violence is single-issue terrorism, and anti-abortion extremists are considered a domestic terrorist threat by the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Barbieri did not immediately return calls from The Press.