A conservative Saudi Arabian cleric has come out and said that driving can have a negative impact on a woman’s reproductive organs.
The comments follow a campaign in the country to allow women to drive and end the ban which only permits men to go behind the wheel.
“If a woman drives a car, not out of pure necessity, that could have negative physiological impacts as functional and physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards,” the cleric, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, told website Sabq.org.
“That is why we find those who regularly drive have children with clinical problems of varying degrees.”
Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan did not reference sources of medical studies to support his arguments.
The campaign to defy the ban is calling for women to partake in a protest drive on October 26th.
In recent days the campaign has spread rapidly online and gained support from prominent women activists.
As of Sunday, the main campaign website was blocked in the country.
