Illinois Primary 2012: Mitt Romney Protested By Women's Health Advocates In Rosemont

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made an early Friday campaign stop at a restaurant in suburban Chicago and was greeted by several protesters, including Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who blasted Romney's recent criticisms of Planned Parenthood.

The Associated Press reports that Schakowsky and about a dozen other women protested the former Massachusetts governor at the Pancakes Eggcetera restaurant in Rosemont, Ill., and held signs reading "Keep your Mitt(s) off birth control."

The protest coincided with the Democratic National Committee's release of a new web video -- titled "Mitt Romney: Wrong For Women & Wrong For Illinois" -- intended to draw attention to Romney's positions on women's health issues in advance of the Tuesday GOP primary election.

The criticism of Romney centers on his comment, made earlier this week to a Missouri reporter, that he intends "to get rid" of Planned Parenthood.

Romney is expected to appear with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at another campaign event at Elmhurst College later Friday. He is slated to return to Illinois Monday and attend an election night rally in Wheaton on Tuesday, NBC Chicago reports.

On Thursday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized Romney for failing to stand up to Rush Limbaugh, who called a Georgetown Law student a "slut" and a "prostitute" for her support of employer-covered contraception.

"In my view I thought what Rush Limbaugh said was absolutely not only wrong, but it was absolutely repulsive," Emanuel said. "That said, if you can't stand up to Rush, how are you going to stand up to Russia?"