As expected US President Barack Obama chose to go full throttle against the Republicans over controversial rape remarks by a GOP candidate, contending that attempts to redefine rape make little sense and a predominantly male political class should not be making decisions for women.

Appealing to his women constituency, Obama said healthcare decisions for women was not something that politicians need get involved in. "These attempts to re-define rape in some way make no sense to me. And I don't think they make sense to the vast majority of women across the country," Obama said in an interview to NBC news.

"But more broadly, I think what these episodes point to is the fact that you don't want politicians, the majority of them male, making a series of decisions about women's health care issues," he said.