"Kids? What Kids? I Vote Now!"

I'm having a really hard time understanding how this argument against Kuwaiti women's right to vote bill wasn't laughed out of court:

A push to allow women to participate in Kuwait's local elections stalled Monday when Islamist and conservative lawmakers abstained en masse from a key vote in parliament, leaving the measure undefeated but short of the number of votes needed for passage.... Women in this oil-rich U.S. ally have reached high government posts in education, oil and the diplomatic corps. But religious conservatives opposed to their involvement in politics argue that would make them neglect their families.

An aside: I grew up in Kuwait, and some other writers have spent a considerable amount of time there: Naji al-Ali, Rabih Alameddine, Ghassan Kanafani, Kathryn Abdul-Baki. But I've read very little about the little emirate, other than the crappy Pearl of Kuwait. I bring this up because I am unaware of fiction or writing that comes out about Kuwait or from Kuwait other than Sabah princess poetry. If you know of any, please pass along. Thanks.