COMMENTARY | It is being reported that on Tuesday, the Arizona House voted to approve legislation, which if approved by their Senate, will make Arizona one of the most restrictive states in the country as to when and under what circumstances a woman can obtain an abortion. The question of whether or not a woman has a right to terminate her unborn baby’s life has been contentious since the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized women’s right to abortion. Indeed, whether or not a woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy, or even has a right to prevent pregnancy, became a controversial topic when former Republican nominee contender Rick Santorum expressed his opinion on whether or not women should use birth control and when Rush Limbaugh publicly attacked and mocked law student Sandra Fluke for wanting employers health insurance policies to pay for birth control much as they do other commonly covered prescription medications.
With this current legislation moving through Arizona, it is unlikely that the spotlight on abortion and other reproductive rights of women will dim in the upcoming presidential election. If anything, the passage of this legislation will only intensify the scrutiny on the candidates’ stance on this hot-button issue.
At first glance, it might appear that increasing public pressure for candidates to define their stance on abortion rights might seem to benefit President Obama, as the Democratic Party has long seemed to be the champion and defender of women’s rights to obtain abortion and other reproductive counseling.
Regardless of whom the Republicans nominate to challenge President Obama, they would be wise to point out to voters that President Obama presents a flawed and conflicted picture at times as traditional defender of women’s rights. While he has verbally seemed to champion women’s rights to reproductive health care and other rights in the United States, his administration has sent mixed messages across the world given that he and his administration have actively courted the new rebel government being led in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood who have begun the re-institution of Sharia Law in the country and have started subjecting women to “virginity” tests, with women facing charges of prostitution if doctors fail to certify whether or not the women of Egypt are virgins.
While those women are “far away” in Egypt, the way our President is showering dollars on the men that subject our fellow females to such humiliation and domination makes me question the sincerity of the president and his party when they claim to care about women.
While I hope to continue to live in a country that is striving towards a day where all people, regardless of their age, gender, color, religion or creed, will have equal access, opportunity, and justice, it is hard for me to unequivocally trust a President with women’s rights when his administration just gave $1.5 billion to a regime who values and grades women based on tests of their vagina.
