There Are Mothers and Birthing People

President Joe Biden’s administration used the term “birthing people” instead of mothers in maternal health guidance. Recently, people have been creating social media posts and videos about how they are upset about the term. The administration did not add mothers to the guidance. That is wrong on many levels. Some have stated that they are mothers and not birthing people.

The 2022 White House year financial budget proposal states, “The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, with an unacceptably high mortality rate for Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and other women of color. To help end this high rate of maternal mortality and race-based disparities in outcomes among birthing people.”

Birthing Person Term Can Be Offensive

It is wrong because not everyone is a part of the LGBTQ community and takes the title of mother to heart. Mothers are explaining that they feel the title is being ripped away from them. If the administration had said, ‘mothers and birthing people,’ that would have been more acceptable because then everyone gets the label that they deserve. Not everyone is part of the LGBTQ community and even if they are, some people still use the pronouns she/her. Based on different social media posts, those people want the title mother.

It is understandable and respected that some of those in the LGBTQ community that gave birth have the title ‘birthing people.’ However, there are others who do not. Putting that in the guidance was upsetting to many people.

The title of birthing person or mother does not change the fact that the person experienced giving birth. It does not change the fact that life was grown inside of them and brought into the world. However, those who want the title mother are outraged because that should not be taken from them. Imagine that someone is transgender, and for the longest time they were addressed with the pronouns that they want, then it gets taken away from them and they are labeled something different. That would be upsetting would it not?

Birthing People Term Defended on Twitter

Social media posts and videos have been made asking, “Why does Biden want to cancel mothers?”

NARAL, a nonprofit pro-choice organization defended the use of ‘birthing people’ alone by tweeting: “When we talk about birthing people, we’re being inclusive. It’s that simple. We use gender neutral language when talking about pregnancy, because it’s not just cis-gender women that can get pregnant and give birth. Reproductive freedom is for *every* body.”

However, this country is not just gender-neutral. Many people in the United States are not gender-neutral. The Biden administration did not take into account those who were going to be offended by the term, birthing people. Many get offended when they are referred to by a gender-neutral term just like some get offended when they are not.

Ultimately, there is never going to be a way to make everyone happy. There will always be people that are angry about every decision that comes out of the government because of the many different political, ethical, and personal opinions. However, this could have been avoided with two simple words, birthing people, ‘and mothers.’

Opinion by Marrissa Kay

Sources:

Newsweek: Biden Admin Replaces ‘Mothers’ With ‘Birthing People’ in Maternal Health Guidance; by Benjamin Fearnow
Republican World: Biden Admin Replaces ‘mothers’ With ‘birthing People’, Netizens Call It ‘attack On Women’; by Zaini Majeed

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Eric Allix Rogers’ Flicker Page – Creative Commons License