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Family planning. Abortion. Sex education. It's no wonder that a lot of women are asking why these are taking over the political conversation on the state and national level and reigniting gender battles that should have been settled long ago.

A lot of women are calling it a war on women, and I'm not sure they're wrong.

You've got Mitt Romney wanting to "get rid" of Planned Parenthood. Rick Santorum condemns contraception under any circumstance. I can't quite divine where Newt Gingrich stands on pregnancy prevention; a Catholic like Santorum, he opposes abortion.

Several states are introducing bills that would force a woman seeking an abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, which requires that a 10-inch probe be inserted into her vagina. It's an unpleasant experience as a diagnostic measure; forcing a woman to undergo it amounts to object rape.

Here in Utah, lawmakers haven't gone that far, but there's always next year.

In the meantime, though, the male- and Republican-dominated Legislature passed a ridiculous abstinence-only bill that would ban sex education of any worth in public schools. Talking about abstinence only is fine, but you'd better not even murmur about contraception, which is used by nearly all American women at some time in their lives.

Tell that to a pregnant 15-year-old whose boyfriend told her he was sterile, and she believed him. Tell that to her parents, who in all likelihood will have to raise that child.

Rep. Bill Wright's HB363 also forbids any discussion of homosexuality. As he put it so eloquently, "Homosexuality does not relate to sexuality. It's a whole different thing." Unbelievable.

Contrary to an assertion in an earlier version of my column, Gov. Gary Herbert did indeed veto HB363 Friday night, saying it deprived parents of their options for educating their children.

As for abortion, Rep. Steve Eliason's HB461 forces a woman to wait 72 hours between deciding she needs an abortion and having it — this after she's almost certainly agonized over her decision.

Note to lawmakers: Nearly all abortion services are in Salt Lake City. What about that girl or woman in Hanksville, with not a lot of money? Does she stay in a cheap motel here, or drive home and back again? Not to mention the added days of stress and despondency.

Is this a battle in the "war on women"? Well, as Rep. Carol Spackman Moss wisely put it in debate, "In my 12 years in the Legislature, every abortion bill was run by a man."

For his part, President Barack Obama wants to build support among women for his Affordable Care Act, on which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments starting March 26. Recent polls indicate that he's made considerable gains in women's approval on that issue.

So where does all this leave us? Here in Utah, women lag behind men in educational achievement and what they earn on the job — 68 percent of what men do.

Politically, Utah ranks 44th in the nation for women in legislatures; in ours, women account for just 16 percent of the total. No woman holds a statewide office or a seat in our congressional delegation.

My solution? Women of all political persuasions should run for any political seat that's open. We're shorting ourselves by believing we can't win; just look at the smart, dedicated women on our Capitol Hill, city and county councils and in mayorships across the state.

Change is nearly always a function of the number of voices heard. Add ours, and we can move mountains.

Peg McEntee is a news columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com, facebook.com/pegmcentee and Twitter, @pegmcentee.