“I have friends and supporters in the human rights fund and Planned Parenthood. But you know what? Hillary Clinton has been around for a very, very long time. Some of these groups are in fact part of the establishment,” Bernie Sanders said. | AP Photo Planned Parenthood pushes back against Sanders for 'establishment' comment

Planned Parenthood and other progressive groups are calling out Bernie Sanders for referring to them as "part of the establishment," saying the Vermont senator needs to show a more explicit commitment to women's reproductive health.

"It's a little ridiculous to call an organization Congress and Republican presidential candidates have spent six months attacking ‘establishment’ — especially when Planned Parenthood health centers are out there every day ensuring millions of often marginalized Americans have access to basic reproductive health care,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund told POLITICO in an email.


Laguens said she was “disappointed” in Sanders’ comments.

“It's regrettable and surprising to hear Sen. Sanders describe the very groups that fight on behalf of millions of often marginalized Americans — people who still have to fight for their most basic rights — as representing the ‘establishment,’” Laguens said.

On Tuesday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asked Sanders why Hillary Clinton was getting so many high-profile progressive endorsements when Sanders’ stance on issues like gay rights and reproductive choice “are very consistent, they should be very attractive to progressive groups.”

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Human Rights Campaign have all endorsed Clinton. Planned Parenthood’s endorsement is the first presidential endorsement in its century-long history.

“Are you competing for those groups' endorsements and not getting them, or are you not trying to get them?” Maddow asked.

“I would love to have the endorsement of every progressive organization,” Sanders said, pointing to the endorsements he has received. “I have friends and supporters in the human rights fund and Planned Parenthood. But you know what? Hillary Clinton has been around for a very, very long time. Some of these groups are, in fact, part of the establishment,” Sanders said.

Deirdre Schifeling, executive director for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said many people at the organization were surprised by the comments because the Vermont senator has long been a supporter of abortion rights and women’s reproductive health. But flags were raised after Sanders released his health care plan on Sunday that would transition into a single-payer Medicare-for-all system.

The idea to increase access to health care was good, but there was something noticeably missing for those at Planned Parenthood: any mention of women’s reproductive rights, Schifeling told POLITICO.

"The problem is that by omitting reproductive health and rights, you run the risk of significantly rolling back the progress we've made over the past seven years," Schifeling said. "If you expand Medicare without repealing the Hyde Amendment, millions of women will lose insurance coverage for abortion. And as we've seen with the Affordable Care Act, unless the administration explicitly specifies that birth control must be covered, women may not have access to a full range of birth control and preventive services."

HRC and NARAL also expressed frustration over the comments.

“We share @PPact's disappointment in Sanders' attacks. @HRC has proudly taken on the establishment & fought for LGBT people for over 30 years,” HRC tweeted Wednesday.

“When we allow a minority of legislators to have control over the majority of American women, things get very bad,” Ilyse Hogue, the NARAL president said during a press call Wednesday. “Unfortunately, directly in opposition to Bernie’s unfortunate comments last night on Rachel Maddow, the anti-choice minority has become the establishment at state legislatures and is becoming the establishment at our federal level.”

The hastag #Imsoestablishment also popped up on Twitter after Sanders’ comments. According to a spokesman from Twitter, that hashtag had already been used 4,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon and continued to grow.

Clinton and her team attempted to use the comments to her advantage Wednesday. “Really Senator Sanders? How can you say that groups like @PPact and @HRC are part of the “establishment” you’re taking on? –H” Clinton tweeted.

Former President Bill Clinton brought it up in New Hampshire on the trail Wednesday. "Hillary does not consider Planned Parenthood a member of the establishment, and I don't see how anybody else could," he said.

“Fighting for health, reproductive rights and LGBT rights is the establishment? Proud that @PPact & @HRC stand with @HillaryClinton,” campaign chairman John Podesta tweeted Wednesday.

Her rapid response director also dove into the topic, tweeting out a follow up piece from MSNBC that had his communications director saying, “He said it better than I could.” "wow, Sanders camp doubles down on "taking on" Planned Parenthood. #ImWithHer," Jesse Lehrich tweeted Wednesday.

And Wednesday night Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon appeared on MSNBC to continue the discussion about comments he deemed "offensive." "It is demeaning to suggest that these organizations that are committed to fending off challenges to access to women’s health on the one hand and in the case of HRC promoting marriage equality to suggest that these are protectors of some status quo. These are champions for progressive ideals where there is still a lot of work to be done," Fallon said. "These are not representative of the establishment.”

Both candidates have been drawing sharper contrasts with one another as the race tightens. She is just 4 percent ahead of him in Iowa, and he holds an 11 percent lead on her in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics polling averages.

As the back-and-forth between the two heats up, some of Clinton’s supporters have also taken to insulting Sanders for his outsider status. “Here in the heartland, we like our politicians in the mainstream, and he is not — he’s a socialist,” said Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon in a New York Times article Tuesday. “He’s entitled to his positions, and it’s a big-tent party, but as far as having him at the top of the ticket, it would be a meltdown all the way down the ballot.”

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, meanwhile, said that Republicans would tie him to the Communist party. “The Republicans won’t touch him because they can’t wait to run an ad with a hammer and sickle,” said McCaskill in The Times.

Clinton’s pollster Joel Benenson, speaking on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Wednesday, said that the Republican Party was trying to “prop up Bernie Sanders” because they’d rather run against him than Clinton. "I think what Democrats are saying is the Republicans are just licking their chops here to get a shot at Bernie Sanders in November,” Benenson said.

The Sanders campaign did not respond to requests for comment.