Former first lady Michelle Obama said this week that a woman's ability to carry the gift of life is "the least of" what the female reproductive system can do, drawing criticism from pro-life activists who believe her comments undermine support for women.
The wife of former President Barack Obama appeared on a Wednesday episode of the podcast "IMO" with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, where she shared her thoughts on various issues, including women's reproductive health.
According to the Becoming author, the "frustrating thing" about the issue of women's reproductive health is that "it has been reduced to a question of choice, as if that's all of what women's health is."
"I attempted to make the argument on the campaign trail this past election that there's just so much more at stake because so many men have no idea what women go through," Obama said.
During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Obama vocally supported abortion and condemned efforts to outlaw or limit the practice. Speaking at an October 2024 campaign rally in Michigan, the former first lady criticized abortion restrictions, asserting that women would become "collateral damage" if former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election.
"We haven't been researched, we haven't been considered, and it still affects the way a lot of men lawmakers, a lot of male politicians, a lot of male religious leaders think about the issue of choice as if it's just about the fetus, the baby," Obama said during the Wednesday podcast episode.
"Women's reproductive health is about our life," she added. "It's about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life."
Obama continued, "It's about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life. 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 — if the machine is functioning in a healthy, streamlined kind of way. But there is no discussion or apparent connection between the two."
Kristan Hawkins, president of the campus activist organization Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, believes Obama's remarks are an example of what's wrong with efforts to "wordsmith" the phrase "reproductive system," which she noted clearly refers to reproduction.
"Women certainly represent more than just one part of themselves, but let's not pretend it's an irrelevant part, as we alone have the gift of carrying life," the pro-life leader and mother of four children said in a statement to The Christian Post. "What's been broken in modern culture is the celebration of our capacity to sustain life in our bodies, something that too often has been drugged away or cut out entirely."
Monica Snyder, the executive director of Secular Pro-Life, an organization comprised of atheists and agnostics who advocate against abortion, also commented on the former first lady's remarks. She agreed that women's reproductive healthcare has historically been overlooked, something that continues to be an issue today.
Some examples, according to Snyder, are the lack of urgent investigations into the causes of infertility and miscarriages, as well as the health care industry's tendency to offer women contraceptives instead of treating other underlying health issues.
"That said, I don't agree that creating human life is the least important function of our reproductive systems. Bringing forth, protecting, and nurturing new human beings is a profoundly significant action," Snyder told CP.
"It's an essential part of society — an essential aspect of existence — that deserves far more respect," the pro-life atheist continued. "Our society could do a lot more, both interpersonally and in terms of policy, to support parents through pregnancy and beyond."
Regarding Obama's comments about male politicians and leaders being too involved in abortion and healthcare, Hawkins countered by pointing to some of former President Barack Obama's actions during his time in office.
During the Obama administration, various pro-life organizations objected to the federal government requiring churches and religious groups to comply with Obamacare regulations that forced employers to provide contraceptive coverage.
"I hope that [the former first lady] will condemn the deceptively named 'Women's Health Protection Act,' a Democratic Party re-run better named the 'Women's Health Endangerment Act,' a naked power grab for more federalized abortion demands," Hawkins told CP.
Pro-life critics of the Women's Health Protection Act warned that it would nullify existing laws against abortion, codifying the right to an abortion into federal law. The U.S. House had voted to pass WHPA twice, in September 2021 and July 2022, but it failed to achieve the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome the filibuster.
"As a powerbroker in a party that has made federalizing abortion a mandate, Michelle Obama seems very unaware of the reproductive implications of the policy she has been pushing," Hawkins concluded.
