Women Are Dying, But Where Are The Feminists?
Religion & Liberty Online

Women Are Dying, But Where Are The Feminists?

If there is one woman who has the ear of the president of the United States, it’s Cecile Richards. The president of Planned Parenthood campaigned for him, and has called him the best friend women could have. In a campaign video, Richards said,

Since day one, President Obama has stood with women. The very first bill he signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, allowing us to make sure that women get equal pay to men. And under the Affordable Care Act he’s expanded healthcare coverage to millions of American women.”

Continuing the “war on women” canard, Richards states in the video that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are “threatening not just to take us back four years, but more than 40 years.”

The two women who head up MoveOn.org, Anna Galland and Ilya Sheyman, are also fans of Obama. Their organization has backed him on everything from Obamacare to the issue of “choice” for women. Feminists for Women also like the current administration, working to help stop pay inequity and violence against women. These are some powerful women, with the ability to mobilize and demand action.

But are these feminists only interested in American women? Are they only interested in issues that affect them? Are they true feminists, wanting the best for all women?

Kate Bryan at CatholicVote wants some answers. Our world is in the midst of enormous human tragedy, much of it directly affecting women. But where are the feminists, especially the ones who are supporters of our current administration? There is a War On Women, all right – and it’s downright deadly.

On April 15th, 276 women were kidnapped by the brutal terrorist group Boko Haram, which launched the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media. “Bring Back Our Girls” sparked massive public outrage, yet N.O.W., Planned Parenthood and other self-proclaimed feminists were silent for days. Planned Parenthood only got involved (days later), when presumably their supporters put pressure on them to do so.

Throughout recent weeks, we have seen the attacks against religious minorities in Iraq unfold. A genocide is being carried out by The Islamic State, and women, children and religious minorities are being starved, maimed, raped and murdered. While the response across the world has been tremendous, so-called feminists and their organizations have remained silent.

How is it possible that the largest “feminist” organizations have failed to even mention the situation in Iraq?

President Obama is the first president to appoint a White House Advisor on Violence Against Women (Lynn Rosenthal.) Has she used the power of her office to speak out against these atrocities? Not that I could find. Kate Bryan:

The feminist movement has completely failed women if when women need them most, they are nowhere to be found. The Islamic State’s genocide is the real “War on Women”, yet so-called “feminists” and so-called “feminist organizations” have remained silent.

If these women and their organizations truly cared about women and their well-being, they would have spoken out on this issue from the beginning. According to their actions, these organizations don’t truly care about women, they only care about boosting their profits.

Women, let’s all bring attention to what is happening to our sisters in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and other places around the world where there truly is a War On Women. If you are a feminists, someone who cares about the health, safety, education and welfare of all women, now is the time to use our voices.

Elise Hilton

Communications Specialist at Acton Institute. M.A. in World Religions.