Announced Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is taking one of the religious right’s most perverted arguments against Planned Parenthood into the mainstream, claiming that the true purpose of the organization is genocide against “black babies.”

Herman Cain poses with hate monger Pamela GellerSpeaking to reporters and bloggers at the Heritage Foundation, Cain echoed a position expressed by many other Republicans.

“I support de-funding Planned Parenthood,” Cain said.  “Tactically how they [Congress] does it…I can’t tell you.”

Cain then explained the reason behind his stance.

“You probably don’t hear a lot of people talking about this,” Cain said.  “When Margaret Sanger – check my history – started Planned Parenthood, the objective was to put these centers in primarily black communities so they could help kill black babies before they came into the world.”

“It’s planned genocide,” Cain claimed.

“It’s carrying out its original mission,” he continued.  “I’ve talked to young girls who go in there, and they [Planned Parenthood] don’t talk about how you plan parenthood.  They don’t talk about adoption as an option.  They don’t say, ‘Well, bring your parents in so we can sit down and talk with you, and counsel with you before you make this decision.’”

The hypocrisy of this over-the-top race-baiting conspiracy theory is stunning; if Republicans were accused of deliberately plotting genocide against African Americans, the screaming outrage from the right would be deafening.

This really lays bare the GOP’s agenda in their drive to defund Planned Parenthood — it has absolutely nothing to do with the federal budget, and absolutely everything to do with fanatical far right religious ideology.