Guest post by AYESHA ASGHAR

Early in July, Kashmala Tariq, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) of Pakistan, whom Wikipedia describes as “actively involved in women’s rights”, opposed the tabling of the Reproductive Health Bill 2012, saying that it was not in conformity with Islamic laws. The Bill was introduced by another MNA, Atiya Inayatullah, with the purpose of providing reproductive health services, including legal access to abortion,  to women in Pakistan.

Tariq accused the Bill of following the agenda of foreign NGO’s and stated that such proposals that might be in contravention of Islamic injunctions should be sent to the Council of Islamic Ideology and every party’s opinion should be sought. The Bill has been sent to the Cabinet Division for further deliberations.

Does this mean that our women representatives don’t know what reproductive rights include? The responsibility of women parliamentary representatives in Pakistan is more challenging than that of men, as women are more often made victims of oppression either in the name of culture or religion.

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