War on women? U.S. Republican Rand Paul says women are winning

[January 27, 2014]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Sunday offered an way out of criticism that the Republican Party is waging a war on women: the women are ahead.

"You know, the whole thing of the war on women. I sort of laughingly say, 'yes, there might have been, but the women are winning it,'" Paul, a possible contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Paul was asked to comment on remarks that former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made to the Republican National Committee last week, in which he urged Republicans to argue that women are not "weaklings" who rely on government for help, including contraceptives to "control their libido."

Rand called Democratic criticism that Republicans are waging a "war on women" a charade that does not lead to good policy.

"I've seen the women in my family and how well they're doing," Rand said, citing women in medical and law schools. "I think women are doing very well and I'm proud of how well we've come and how far we've come, and I think that some of the victimology and all this other stuff is trumped up."

(Writing by Doina Chiacu; editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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