Saudi Driving: Cleric Says Women Who Drive Cars Could Damage Ovaries and Pelvis, Produce Children With 'Clinical Problems' (TWEETS)

A Saudi cleric advised women that operating a motor vehicle could lead to ovary and pelvis damage, which might put them at risk of having children with "clinical problems." His comments have sparked huge backlash from activists who created a website that is now blocked, pushing for Saudi women to challenge the nation's driving ban.

"If a woman drives a car," Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan told Saudi news site sabq.org during an interview, "it could have a negative physiological impact...medical studies show that it would automatically affect a woman's ovaries and that it pushes the pelvis upward.

"We find that for women who continuously drive cars, their children are born with varying degrees of clinical problems," Al-Loheidan explained in the piece, published Friday.

According to CNN, Al-Loheidan's stance on females behind the wheel is a move to keep women from signing an online petition which urges people to protest against the legislation by driving in cars on October 26. Last week, www.oct26driving.com put a petition up on the website, which accumulated more than 12,000 signatures from citizens who want officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to lift the ban that keeps ladies in the passenger's seat.

Saudi women's rights activist Aziza Yousef said that Al-Loheidan is grasping for any rationale he can to back up the law.

"This is his answer to the campaign," she told CNN. "But it is an individual opinion. The clerical establishment is not behind this. He's making a fool of himself. He shouldn't touch this field at all - the medical field is not his field at all."

"I don't think it will harm the campaign," Saudi columnist Abdullah Al-Alami said of Al-Loheidan's comments. "On the contrary, it will make it stronger."

Almost immediately after news started circling concerning Al-Loheidan's comments, social media sites blew up with responses. An Arabic Twitter hashtag called #WomensDrivingAffectsOvariesAndPelvises began trending - hundreds of people let loose strings of mockery, poking fun at the cleric.

The ban on female drivers is informal, but widely enforced by the nation's police, who arrest and fine women they find at the steering wheel, BBC reported. Men are the sole recipients of driver's licenses in Saudi Arabia.