Democrats like to accuse the GOP of waging a "war on women," but Republican women, like Utah Congresswoman Mia Love, think the accusation is "absolutely ridiculous."

Love, who spoke to the Washington Examiner after a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., said that the real issues facing Americans are not "gender specific," but affect everyone.

"As a woman, I believe that I have the ability to ... pay for and decide my own healthcare," Love said. "I don't need Washington to do that for me."

She added: "I think that it's actually insulting to claim that women can't make decisions on their own, that they need a centralized government to make those decisions for them."

In that respect, Love said, the war on women is really coming from Democrats.

"It comes from the idea that they'd like to separate us based on social status, gender, race, income levels," Love said. "And we as Americans can't allow that."

The freshman congresswoman said liberal policies have kept people, especially single moms, in poverty because they've not been given the opportunities to succeed on their own. In her comments at CPAC and when speaking to the Examiner, Love said that many of the programs Congress has passed to help those in need actually keep them in poverty.

"How does that help families? How does that help people grow out of that and become good, contributing members of society?" Love asked. "We need to start looking for policies that help people to come out of that and go beyond."

Love knows a little something about rising up from having nothing. Her parents emigrated to the U.S. from Haiti in the 1970s after fleeing from a ruthless dictatorship. They spoke no English when they settled in New York and, according to Love, had $10 in their pockets. Her father has expressed pride that he and his wife were able to support their family without welfare — just help from family members. It is that idea of community support, rather than government dependence, that resonates with Love today.

"I think that we, as Americans, need to trust people again," she said.