A push is now underway in some states to purge the terms “mother” and “father” from official state forms. Instead, state forms are being altered to use the terms “birth parent” for mother and “non-birth parent” for father.
Last Friday, evolutionary biologist Colin Wright posted several examples of how the Connecticut Department of Health has been updating their forms in an apparent attempt to use more “gender neutral” terminology on their public documents.
Wright reports: “The Connecticut Department of Public Health has removed the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ from all medical paperwork surrounding childbirth. Mothers are now the ‘birth parent,’ and fathers the ‘non-birth parent.'”
The “Registration of a Home Birth Parent’s Guide,” for instance, gives instructions to the “birth parent” — the mother — and “non-birth parent” — the father — on how to obtain the child’s birth certificate and other key documents.
The revised list of documents that need to be sent to the Registrar of Vital Records includes a “signed and dated report from the practitioner or clinic that provided postpartum care to the birth parent within twenty-four hours after the birth.” It also includes a “notarized affidavit by the birth parent attesting to the date, time, and place of the live birth.”
The public health departments of Ohio and Pennsylvania have also revised many of their forms to include these “newspeak” terms for parents.
So, “mother” and “father” have apparently joined the ever expanding list of things you’re not supposed to say, or else you’re a bigot.
The terms “mother” and “father” are innocuous enough for most people, so why, exactly, is this being done? The short answer is that it’s all about “inclusion” for transgendered individuals.
An Australian National University handbook on gender attempts to explain.
“While many students will identify as ‘mothers’ or ‘fathers’, using these terms alone to describe parenthood excludes those who do not identify with gender-binaries,” the handbook explains.
“This non-gendered language is particularly important in clinical or abstract academic discussions of childbirth and parenthood, both to recognise the identities of students in the class, and to model inclusive behavior for students entering clinical practice.”
How can the terms “mother” and “father” be considered not inclusive? After all, we all have one of each.
America’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA), also moved to change the “gendered language” of “mother” and “father.” During its July meeting, the union proposed purging the terms from its language in favor of “birthing parent” and “non-birthing parent.”
“NEA will inform states and locals of the following sample language that may be put in contracts that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive,” the NEA proposal reportedly read. The proposal would have referred to “’Parental leave’ instead of ‘maternity leave,’ ‘parent’ instead of ‘mother’ or ‘father,’ ‘birthing parent’ instead of ‘mother,’ and ‘non-birthing parent’ instead of ‘father.’”
Incredibly, given the NEA’s far-left agenda and the times we’re living in, the new language did not pass during this year’s assembly, as it did not come up for a vote in the annual meeting.
The “woke” obsession with changing language to fit its own interpretation of “inclusiveness” is annoying. In this case, only a tiny fraction of people find the terms “mother” and “father” to be “heteronormative” or, in layman’s terms “normal,” and thus offensive.
Are any of us going to stop referring to our mothers and fathers as “mom” and “dad”? Probably not. However, “woke” elements in government are attempting to change those terms on official government documents. The implications are frightening, especially for those who understand what Orwell meant when he wrote about “newspeak.”
