That's right, the votes are in — and in a close race, Jezebel's Woman of the Year for 2011 is Dr. X, the anonymous abortion doctor.
As Erin wrote back in October, Dr. X travels the country performing abortions in underserved areas. She wears a Scrooge mask to keep her identity a secret from anti-abortion zealots, and the Santa Fe Reporter writes that "she has sacrificed her schedule, her personal life, her salary, and even her health care." Now that Operation Rescue has outed her, her safety may be at risk as well. BartletForGallifrey argued that she deserved to be Woman of the Year because she risks her life for reproductive rights, which are increasingly under fire in this country. Twenty-one percent of those who took our poll (that's over 1,200 readers) agreed.
A close second was Hillary Clinton, who got 1,142 votes, or 19% of our electorate. In third was Iman al-Obeidi, who courageously reported her alleged gang rape by Qaddafi's forces — she got 15% of the vote. A close fourth was Elizabeth Warren — she trailed al-Obeidi by just 9 votes. All candidates garnered ringing endorsements from commenters, and many of you said you had a tough time choosing between them. unmoldednicole said,
Well shit this is a tough choice. I think maybe we could use a US Woman of the year and an International Woman of the year because clearly there are plenty of women we should all be acknowledging. Or separate them by region...? This feeling is like the opposite feeling I get when I'm at my local booths.
Maybe next year. In the meantime, congratulations to Dr. X, and happy 2012 to all!
Image via Jennifer Gottschalk/Shutterstock.com