As a female and a former attorney, I have been watching with intense interest the latest assaults on women’s privacy and reproductive rights. For weeks now, I have been signing petitions and endorsing libertarian articles crafted by the ACLU, MomsRising.org, Planned Parenthood, TrueMajority.org, Emily’s List, MoveOn.org, and our patron legal foundation, The Rutherford Institute – all geared toward protecting civil rights that we women won in the 20th Century.

Most recently, in the Commonwealth of Virginia – my birthplace and the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson) and the Bill of Rights (James Madison) – women are under attack by state legislators who have passed bills requiring that “every pregnant female shall undergo ultrasound imaging and be given an opportunity to view the ultrasound image of her fetus prior to the abortion.” (HB 462 and SB 484). In many cases, this will result in a vaginal probe being inserted into female patients against their will and the will of their doctors, who will be forced to act as instruments of Big Brother rather than health care professionals.

Here is Saturday Night Live's take on the assault on women's rights and the Virginia abortion bill:http://www.hulu.com/watch/331282/saturday-night-live-really-with-seth-an...

And here is John Stewart's take on the Virginia bill: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-21-2012/punanny-state---v...

In sum, rich and powerful white men – ecclesiastical and political – have declared war on the women of the United States. From the Pope in Italy … to self-righteous presidential contenders … to Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell … Why do these pompous men assume they may deny American women bodily sovereignty?

The simple answer is that we have allowed it to happen, by voting for men who hypocritically profess a love of freedom while they steal our liberties, by voting for change then slumbering until the next election, and by voting our pocketbook instead of our highest moral values.

The more complicated answer is that societal laws and customs are adopted in accordance with what Oracle calls “The Trickle-Down Deity Theory.” This theory posits that a culture’s rules and mores naturally emanate from the culture’s view of deity. And for the last few thousand years, most of the world has viewed God as a masculine deity.

Thus, it is the man-made and (not coincidentally) male Godhead that is the root of the problem. “God the Father” and “God the Son” have been effectively employed to castigate, subjugate, oppress, imprison, and kill millions of women for thousands of years. Remember ladies, our right to vote is only 90 years old, and our right to bodily privacy is a mere 50 years old. In a calculated move to underscore the male hypocrisy of attempting to curtail our hard-won freedoms, a female legislator in Virginia proposed a bill that would require men to submit to a physical examination of their private parts before obtaining Viagra. Can you imagine how that bill was received?

Better yet, my sisters in the United States, imagine this … if you can:

Imagine the plight of many of our Muslim and Hindu sisters: who must cover their faces and wear black burqas in desert heat; who endure arranged marriages (sometimes as child brides); who suffer genital mutilation; who are denied education, the right to vote, and even the right to drive a car; and who face the reality of “honor killings” if they step out of line.

In other words, do not foolishly presume that women’s rights are safe, even in the United States. Unfortunately, even the most basic human rights are currently in play … and they will remain so. None of us are safe until we assimilate and adore both “God the Father” and “God the Mother.”

I repeat: Rich and powerful white men – ecclesiastical and political – have declared war on the women of the United States. Now, what are you going to do about it?