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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Michelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women's reproductive health
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is facing backlash after saying that creating life is "the least" of what a woman's reproductive system does. On the latest episode of the podcast "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson," the former first lady and her brother were joined by OB/GYN Dr. Sharon Malone, whose husband, Eric Holder, served as Attorney General under former President Barack Obama. During the discussion, the former first lady lamented that women's reproductive health "has been reduced to the question of choice." "I attempted to make the argument on the campaign trail this past election was that there's just so much more at stake and because so many men have no idea about what women go through," Obama said. She went on to claim that the lack of research on women's health shapes male leaders' perceptions of the issue of abortion. Michelle Obama And Eric Holder's Wife Bonded Over Being 'Reluctant Spouses' To Famous Men "Women's reproductive health is about our life. It's about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life," Obama added, "It's a very important thing that it does, but you only produce life if the machine that's producing it — if you want to whittle us down to a machine — is functioning in a healthy, streamlined kind of way." In the same episode, the former first lady seemed to scold Republican men by saying that the men who "sit on their hands" over abortion are choosing to "trade out women's health for a tax break or whatever it is." Obama also criticized Republican women, suggesting they voted for President Donald Trump because of their husbands. Read On The Fox News App "There are a lot of men who have big chairs at their tables, there are a lot of women who vote the way their man is going to vote, it happened in this election." Michelle Obama Urges Parents Not To Try To Be Friends With Their Children The "Becoming" author's remarks drew criticism from pro-life activists, including Danielle D'Souza Gill, the wife of Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas. The couple announced the birth of their second child earlier in May. "Motherhood is the most beautiful and powerful gift God gave women. Creating life isn't a side effect, it's a miracle. Don't let the Left cheapen it," D'Souza Gill wrote in a post on X. Isabel Brown, a content creator and author, also slammed the former first lady as a "supposed feminist icon." "I am SO sick [and] tired of celebrities [and] elitists attempting to convince you that your miraculous superpower ability to GROW LIFE from nothing is somehow demeaning [and] 'lesser than' for women," Brown wrote. At the time of this writing, Obama's podcast is ranked 51 on Apple Podcasts and doesn't appear on the list of the top 100 podcasts on Spotify. However, it is ranked 91 on the list of 100 trending podcasts on Spotify. The entire episode with Malone is available on YouTube, where it currently has just under 41,150 views so article source: Michelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women's reproductive health
BBC News
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Artist in Lichfield wants to give voice to Afghan women through her art
An Afghan refugee says she hopes to give a voice to women in her home country still living under the Taliban Anwari's work once lined the walls of Afghanistan's national gallery in Kabul but when the Taliban regained power in 2021, she was forced to leave everything and flee to the her husband and seven-year-old son, she was given the chance to start again after settling in the West Midlands three years ago."I may have lost my home but I have not lost my identity," said Ms Anwari. "Sometimes I imagine if I were still in Afghanistan and unable to draw or paint, my heart would be silent."Her new portfolio of work has been displayed at a gallery and work space in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Mrs Anwari has fond memories of growing up in Kabul where she worked as a schools ambassador for the British when the Taliban regained power four years ago "everything changed overnight"."I still remember the gunfire sounds and explosions," she added."My son and I are still sensitive to loud sounds because a strong explosion was not far from us." Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban has steadily imposed laws and regulations that reflect its austere vision of Islamic over the age of 12 have been barred from getting an education and many women from Taliban has repeatedly said girls will be allowed to return to school once its concerns, such as aligning the curriculum with Islamic values, are resolved - but so far no concrete steps have been taken to make that happen. "Life for women has completely changed," said Ms Anwari. "But they still keep their hope alive for a better future. I wish one day they will experience freedom and security."My painting is not just a hobby. They can't express themselves due to the restrictions but I want to reflect the Afghan women's silent voice with my painting."Seven of Ms Anwari's pieces are now on show at Courtyard Fine Art Lounge in was also commissioned to create a piece for the city's Shire House, a shared working space which opened earlier this year. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Police in Islamabad briefly detain senior rights activists protesting Israel's war in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Two senior human rights activists, Tahira Abdullah and Samina Khan, were briefly detained by police on Friday outside the Islamabad Press Club for ostensibly protesting against Israel's war in Gaza before their release later in the day. A video purportedly showing their arrest depicts them wearing Palestinian flags and keffiyeh scarves as they are escorted away by women police personnel, along with a man and three youths. Abdullah can be seen asking a policeman why they are being taken away. She then tells the female police personnel not to push her and Khan, and requests that they be moved to a separate car instead of the police truck. 'They [Abdullah and Khan] were illegally picked up from outside the Islamabad Press Club premises and taken away to the women police station in G-7,' lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha told Arab News. 'They aren't allowed to meet their counsel to discuss options,' he continued. 'Station House Officer (SHO) Misbah Waqas is refusing to let their families and counsel meet them.' Police did not specify any charges against the two rights activists. Islamabad police spokesperson Dr. Taqi Javed also did not respond to a query from Arab News in this regard. Last year in May, Abdullah was among the protesters who staged a demonstration at Islamabad's D-Chowk in support of the Palestinians. She had urged everyone to come out in large numbers, saying the Pakistani government would not pay heed to their demands otherwise. The Islamabad Press Club is a key venue in Pakistan's capital where journalists and activists hold press conferences and protests. It serves as a platform for raising awareness and drawing media attention to political and social issues. Protesters use it to voice demands and push for government action. A video of Abdullah and Khan that was later shared by lawyer Chattha shows them stepping out of the police precinct after being released, chanting the slogan, 'Free, free Palestine.' Pakistan does not recognize Israel and supports an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Shocking footage shows Saudi police beat women and girls inside secret prisons where families send 'disobedient' females to be locked away and punished for YEARS to break their spirit
Shocking footage obtained by MailOnline shows Saudi police beating women detained inside secretive facilities where families send 'disobedient' women and girls to be punished. Women seen in the clip were said to be staging a peaceful sit-in protest over poor living conditions at their so-called 'care home' in Khamis Mushair, in Asir Province. Security and police officers at the Social Education Home for Girls are seen rushing in and hitting the woman; some as they lay helpless on the ground. Women were seen being dragged by their hair, beaten with belts and sticks, and subjected to other forms of physical abuse. The video, which caused outrage among rights activists in Saudi Arabia when it first circulated in 2022, re-emerged as former detainees bravely spoke out about their experiences held in 'Dar al-Reaya' facilities across the country. Dr Maryam Aldossari, a Saudi academic at Royal Holloway, University of London, told MailOnline that despite recent reforms, many women remain held in these de facto prisons, unable to leave until a male guardian permits them. She cited examples of women enduring horrifying conditions inside the facilities, some reportedly even moved to take their own lives due to alleged abuse. 'It still exists,' she warned. 'We still know people who are there and God knows when they will leave. 'They completely cut them [off]. There are cameras everywhere. If you misbehave you must go to these small individual rooms, you are separated. 'Anything can be considered as a violation of women's rights.' Dr Aldossari, who left Saudi Arabia in 2008 to study and work in the UK, today works with Al Qst (ALQST), a human rights organisation that documents and promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia. 'What we do hear - it's such a dark time in Saudi Arabia. This is becoming a police state,' she said. 'People are scared.' After the harrowing video first emerged, the local authority said it was ordering an investigation into the incident. It did not condemn the security officers for the 'blatant and brutal assault on the women', Al Qst noted, assessing that any investigation would 'lack all credibility'. They described violence at the hands of the authorities as a 'hallmark' of the Saudi prison system. 'In this respect, care homes for young women and girls (even if not officially for female criminals) and juvenile detention centres are no different from prisons, where violence mostly takes the form of ill-treatment, physical assaults and sexual harassment.' A spokesperson for the Saudi government recently denied that the care homes were detention centres, claiming 'women are free to leave at any time' and can leave without permission from a guardian or family member. They also said that 'any allegation of abuse is taken seriously and subject to thorough investigation'. Dr Aldossari dismissed the claims. 'The regime lie and lie and lie and lie,' she said. She maintained that women as young as 13 could be sent to a facility for 'disobedience' and held until a male guardian allows them to leave. Despite recent reforms nominally strengthening women's rights, she said, there is no 'trial' to be sent to a facility that is not officially a prison, there is no process of appeal, and there is no consistent interpretation of the law. 'A woman might be legally allowed to apply for her own passport because of the reforms,' she explained, referring to the Saudi Personal Status Law (PSL), codified in 2022 and supplemented this year. 'But her male guardian can still prevent her from travelling by filing a case of disobedience - and they didn't even bother to define what disobedience means,' she said. 'So anyone and every male says "my wife or my daughter" is being disobedient and then all those rights will go.' 'It [has become] like a tool of the Saudi regime to control women,' she added. 'The reason could be anything. You could, for example, run away from your home because you are facing abuse, then you will be arrested by police. 'It could be the accusation of behaviour that doesn't align with norms. For example, being seen with a man who's not your husband. It could be because your family thought you're out of control or even being a feminist.' The care homes have existed since the 1960s, initially presented as a rehabilitative 'shelter' for women accused or convicted of certain crimes. They are said to hold women between the ages of 7 and 30. A Saudi government spokesperson told The Guardian: 'Women are free to leave at any time, whether to attend school, work, or other personal activities, and may exit permanently whenever they choose with no need of approval from a guardian or family member.' But campaigners contest the claims, citing women who have experienced the facilities first-hand. If a male guardian is not willing or available to release them, the authorities will move them to a similar 'guest' facility - from which they will also require the consent of a male guardian or relative to leave. Dr Aldossari explained that under the 'ridiculous' system in Saudi Arabia, this role is 'inherited'. If a woman's husband or father is unavailable, her son could end up responsible for his mother. In some horrifying cases, women have allegedly been sent to facilities after defying the men sexually abusing them at home. 'She ends up in the situation that the abuser has to release her,' she said. Women have shared harrowing testimonies of being sent to the facilities as punishment for not 'obeying' sexual abuse at home, and then flogged or locked away in isolation until they 'reconcile' with their abusers. Sarah Al-Yahia, campaigning to abolish the homes, told the Guardian that her father had threatened to send her to one of the homes as a child 'if I didn't obey his sexual abuse'. 'If you are sexually abused or get pregnant by your brother or father you are the one sent to Dar al-Re'aya to protect the family's reputation,' she explained. Women may have to make the impossible choice between enduring abuse at home and the gruelling conditions inside the camps, she explained. Some have reportedly been killed by abusive relatives soon after release. One woman told the Guardian that she was taken to Dar al-Re'aya after complaining about her father and brothers. She was then allegedly abused at the institution and accused of bringing shame upon her family for her social media posts about women's rights. She was held until her father agreed she could be released, despite his being her alleged abuser, the outlet reports. While testimonies from the facilities remain underreported, some women have bravely spoken out over the years. In a 2021 ALQST report, women described being made to stand for six hours at a time by way of punishment for disobedience. One former inmate told MBC in 2018 that she and others were made to eat their own vomit after throwing up bad food. 'They let men in to hit us. Sometimes the girls and kids face sexual harassment, but if they talk, no one listens.' In other cases, local media has documented reports of suicide at the centres, blamed on the conditions inside. In 2015, a woman was found to have hanged herself from the ceiling of her room at one of the shelters, writing in a note: 'I decided to die to escape hell.' An inmate at the Makkah facility had said earlier: 'Dying is more merciful than living in the shelter.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Farage abortion plans would have ‘catastrophic consequences for women'
Nigel Farage 's plans to restrict access to abortion would have 'catastrophic consequences for women', campaigners have warned. The Reform UK leader this week said it is 'ludicrous we allow abortion up to 24 weeks' and the law is 'totally out of date'. MPs and charities have hit back, saying there is 'no clinical justification' for reducing the time limit and warned against the 'imposition of cruel restrictions' on women seeking abortions. Stella Creasy, a Labour MP campaigning for a human right to safe and legal abortion, said Mr Farage's comments on abortion were 'all part of the Trumpian playbook' - a reference to his close ties to the US President. Speaking to The Independent after Mr Farage's speech on Tuesday, Ms Creasy said: 'It is not something he has thought deeply about, but somebody has sat him down and said 'they are killing babies at birth'. 'I would be surprised if he knew about fatal fetal abnormalities. If he's never sat through a scan and like, 20 weeks and got the worst news. 'There is a shed load of cash coming into anti-abortion activism, so everyone who thinks this could never happen in the UK needs to understand they are not coming in saying they are going to stop all abortions, they are saying 'babies could live at…' or 'shouldn't women see a doctor before they have one', and it all sounds very reasonable. 'But in reality, it is a way of restricting access.' The senior backbencher has tabled an amendment to Labour's crime and policing bill, which would guarantee women the right to safe and legal abortions. She says the change is essential to protect abortion access 'from whoever is in power' after the next general election, amid a rise in anti-abortion organising. Attacking Mr Farage, Ms Creasy said: 'All those who want to use women's bodies as the battleground for the culture wars or think that isn't happening present a risk to women's rights because they either bargain them away for votes or fail to act when we can to protect them. 'The Trumpian playbook is now very much a part of British politics, and one of the losers in that is always equality. What Farage is really doing is trying to get people to talk about why would a woman have an abortion, as if it's anybody's business. Because that is about shaming women.' Tonia Antoniazzi, a Labour MP campaigning for a separate amendment to the crime and policing bill which would decriminalise abortion, said 'no woman should have Nigel Farage dictating their reproductive rights'. Her amendment would ensure vulnerable women in England and Wales are no longer subject to years-long investigations, criminal charges, and custodial sentences for ending their pregnancies. She told The Independent: 'There is absolutely no clinical, ethical or informed basis for reducing the well-established abortion time limit. Nearly 99 per cent of abortions happen prior to 20 weeks, with the vast majority of those happening prior to 10 weeks. 'It is the most vulnerable women and girls that tend to be those more likely to need later abortion care, that is, women with complex foetal anomaly diagnoses, women who have experienced domestic abuse or trafficking and exploitation, and girls under the age of 18. 'Farage would do well to remember that the vast majority of the public support a woman's right to choose, and one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. 'Currently, women are being arrested, from hospital bed to police cell, under outdated and inconsistent abortion law.' Speaking at a press conference on the issue on Tuesday, Mr Farage said: 'I am pro-choice, but I think it's ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks. "And yet, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. "So I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date." He has previously called for parliament to debate implementing stricter time limits on abortion. Charity, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said MPs were entitled to their views on abortion, but 'it is wrong to suggest that there is any medical evidence that supports a reduction in the abortion time limit'. Spokesman Katherine O'Brien said: 'Just last year, leading fetal medicine experts wrote to members of parliament to warn that there is no clinical justification for reducing the time limit based on national outcomes data, and that any such move would have catastrophic consequences for women.' It is supporting Ms Antoniazzi's amendment to the crime and policing bill, which it says would 'reform our archaic legislation' in a 'compassionate and considered' way.
