Senate Democrats have certainly proven there’s a “war on women” – a war on women’s intelligence! While America sinks under the weight of the Left’s failed policies, Harry Reid and company are busy insulting the female voters they claim to speak for. Instead of serious discussions about the crises of immigration, the economy, the IRS or Middle East, the Left is taking up valuable legislative time with gratuitous debates over abortion and birth control.

If liberals are such devoted feminists, why do they insist on reducing women voters to the sum of their reproductive organs? Having two X chromosomes doesn’t mean women are incapable of caring about the issues Senate Democrats are ignoring. Yet that’s exactly what this Majority Leader is banking on with feisty hearings over political show bills that have zero chance of passing both chambers and little significance if they did. It’s an offensive – if not risky – strategy for the party desperate to keep its grip on the Senate. And based on Tuesday’s Judiciary hearing, Reid’s stunt is less about opening an honest conversation and more about opening the wallets of hard-line Democratic donors.

While conservatives fight to give women more protection from profit-first abortionists, liberals are trying to send states back to the dark ages of health care. Their latest attempt, Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-Conn.) ridiculously named “Women’s Health Protection Act,” would wash away virtually every state and local limit on abortion and clinic standards.

For the extreme Left, Blumenthal’s sweeping proposal is the answer to what they call a “cascading wave of restrictions” in the states. This great pro-life awakening, which launched a record-breaking number of common sense laws (226), is helping to break the abortion stronghold on communities across America. And that’s exactly what the Left is afraid of. From abortion waiting periods to Planned Parenthood funding bans, the states are doing what voters wish Congress would: cracking down on an industry that destroys lives and exploits women. Like a lot of liberals, Sen. Blumenthal is so desperate to stop this flood of pro-life support that he’s willing to trample states’ rights to do it.

Unfortunately for Harry Reid’s party, Sen. Blumenthal’s bill isn’t just raising the ire of Republicans but of the majority of Americans. One of the greatest mistakes the Left has made is assuming that just because some voters are pro-abortion means they’re also anti-regulation. Even in states with some of the bluest roots, Americans stand behind sensible measures like abortion waiting periods, fetal pain bills, hospital admitting privileges, mandatory ultrasounds, safety standards – and, in a minor’s case, getting a mom or dad’s okay. If this bill were to become law, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) explained, “it would send a message to state governments that it’s useless to enact laws aimed at protecting health and welfare.” It would lead, he went on, “to inhumane, unsanitary, heinous, dangerous, shocking, and unsafe abortions. The laws that helped convict Kermit Gosnell would be wiped away.”

Others, like Sen. Roy Blunt, see the push for what it is: a distraction. “I assume the majority has no real intention of passing law here,” Sen. Blunt said. “It’s just trying to change the subject from devastating domestic policies and devastating foreign policy situations.” For more on the Left’s political theater, check out the blog piece from FRC’s Travis Weber here.

Passport to Progress: House Moves on Ibrahim Hearing

While Meriam Ibrahim watches the days crawl by from a room in the U.S. embassy, Members of Congress are not going to wait any longer for the Sudanese to act. Thanks to a handful of conservatives who have worked tirelessly for her release, Meriam’s crisis is about to be reintroduced to the global scene in a special hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee next Wednesday. The political volatility of this small family’s case is growing more urgent by the day, as Meriam’s status remains unchanged. Although released from her death sentence by the country’s court, Meriam and her two children have been sentenced to a different fate: waiting anxiously on the Sudanese bureaucracy to clear her paperwork and allow her clear passage to the United States, where her two tiny children will finally be safe from the religious persecution they faced in Sudan.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who chairs the Subcommitte on Africa, is making Meriam’s case an issue of national importance in hopes of rousing the Sudanese and American governments to greater involvement in her release and advancing religious freedoms for all Sudanese. As I told the Sudanese ambassador Tuesday, we are very encouraged to hear that his government views the application of constitutional religious freedom protections in this case as model for future cases in Sudan. In our minds, this is a positive development which speaks to a promising economic and cultural future for Sudan. In the meantime, our focus is on bringing Meriam’s case to a quick and safe resolution. We hope next week’s House hearings will prompt exactly that. For now, you can help us shine an even bigger spotlight on Meriam and her family by signing FRC’s petition to the U.S. State Department.

Alabama’s Sixth Sense: Voters Send Palmer to Fall Ballot

Americans are tired of wishy-washy Republicans – and fortunately, they’re doing something about it. In a number of key primaries voters are turning out to replace Establishment-type congressman with full-portfolio conservatives. Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District is just one example. There, FRC Action-endorsed candidate Gary Palmer soundly defeated his challenger in Tuesday’s runoff for the House seat closest to Birmingham. Palmer, the founder of the Alabama Policy Institute and a longtime friend of FRC, carried the day with more than 62% of the vote. Gary’s record includes an unapologetic stand for life, marriage, and religious liberty – making him exactly the kind of principled leader Congress could use more of. FRC Action congratulates Gary on his win and looks forward to working with him when voters elect him to the U.S. House.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.