Biden Admin Replaces ‘Mothers’ With ‘Birthing People’ in Maternal Health Guidance

The White House’s 2022 fiscal year budget replaced the word mothers with birthing people in a section about public health funding, prompting ridicule Monday from President Joe Biden’s conservative critics.

The Biden administration’s budget includes a public health section which addresses efforts to “reduce maternal mortality rates and end race-based disparities in maternal mortality.” The budget specifically addresses racial disparities between Black, American Indian/Alaska Native and other women of color. But it is the replacement of the word mother with birthing people that drew the ire of conservative think tank leaders and right-wing media members Monday following the release of Biden’s budget.

A Heritage Action lobbyist on Capitol Hill responded incredulously tweeting, “Why does Biden want to cancel mothers?”

The budget goes on to tout the implementation of “implicit bias training for health care providers” as well as the creation of state-run pregnancy medical home programs and additional early childhood development funding.

The pro-choice nonprofit NARAL defended use of the term, 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.”

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