Rep. Ilhan Omar, who was sworn into the US House of Representatives with her hand on a Quran, accused Christians in a speech on the House floor of imposing their beliefs on America through abortion laws.
Referring to new abortion laws in Alabama and other states, Rep. Omar slammed Christians who oppose abortion, referring to them as “religious fundamentalists,” and accused them of trying to “manipulate” state laws “in order to impose their beliefs” on America.
“Religious fundamentalists are currently trying to manipulate state laws in order to impose their beliefs on an entire society,” said Rep. Omar.
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According to Rep. Omar, the laws are efforts by Christians “to criminalize women for simply existing, to punish us when we don’t conform to their attempts to control us.”
“But because it’s happening here, with the support of the ultra-conservative religious right, we call it religious freedom,” she said.
“I am frustrated every single time I hear people speaking about their faith,” Rep. Omar added, despite the fact she was wearing a hijab.
Rep. Omar, 37, is the first person in Congress to wear the hijab, or Islamic head covering worn by many women in the Muslim world. Shortly after being elected, she publiclyvowed to help lift the 181-year-old ban on headwear on the House floor.
While Rep. Omar is happy to criticize Christians in America, labelling them “fundamentalists” for holding views that differ from her own, her critics note she’s been silent about the Shariah-based subjugation of women in her native country, Somalia, and the Muslim world along with horrific issues such as female genital mutilation.
