On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House issued Mother’s Day messages. However, as some progressives are crusading against gendered terms, they preferred to use the term “birthing people” instead.
Republican lawmakers poked fun of the phrase elected by Democrats as they preferred to use the term”birthing people” as a gender-neutral language.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on Sunday, “Our mothers are our Guardian Angels, and we carry them always in our hearts, whether or not we are blessed to have them with us. Happy Mother’s Day to you and your family.”
The White House also wrote on Twitter, “Moms have always built, shaped, led, and sustained this country — and we’re committed to fighting for the safe and equitable workplaces, affordable health care, child care, and equal pay that every mom deserves. Happy Mother’s Day.”
However, in recent days, Democratic representative Cori Bush and pro-choice group NARAL highlighted the term “birthing people.”
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. https://t.co/9E9qKRMJTu
— NARAL (@NARAL) May 6, 2021
On Thursday, Bush wrote on Twitter, “Every day, Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don’t believe our pain. My children almost became a statistic. I almost became a statistic. I testified about my experience @OversightDems today. Hear us. Believe us. Because for so long, nobody has.”
On the same day, NARAL posted on its officials’ Twitter account, “When we talk about birthing people, we’re 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.”
After using the term “birthing people” to refer to women, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush angered online critics.
Bush, who is also a member of the “squad,” was heavily ridiculed after she opted not to use the word “women” during a Democratic oversight committee hearing where she recounted her personal experience with difficult pregnancies to raise awareness of the rising maternal death rate among Black expectant mothers.
Happy Birthing People’s Day! pic.twitter.com/2GbFenjmGr
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 9, 2021
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Ted Cruz mocked the phrase used on Mother’s Day as he wrote on Twitter, “Happy Birthing People’s Day!” alongside a graphic showing the word “Mother’s” erased and replaced with “Birthing People’s.”
Earlier this year, Republicans also mocked House Democrats when they revealed the “gender-free” rules package.
The rules package strips all mention of gender-specific pronouns and terms such as “woman,” “man,” “mother,” and “son.”
For instance, the “Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman,” for instance, was renamed in the rules to “Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds.” However, there is nothing in the rules that prevent members from using gender-specific terms when conducting business or speaking on the House floor.
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy mocked the inclusionary effort as “stupid.”
The remarks made by Bush also set a fierce reaction on social media as critics chastised Bush for reducing women to a “function” with her use of the term.
The words “birthing people” are so absolutely insulting it is almost unimaginable. Eff off with that nonsense https://t.co/Rd5kocJKNL
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) May 6, 2021
Tim Carney wrote, “This is s—,” Carney added, “They’re called mothers. Calling them “birthing people” is reducing them to a function–making them not human. That’s what’s at the heart of this whole gender ideology. Reduce us to atomized autonomous individuals without a role or connection.”
Emily Zanotti from the Daily Wire also called the term “absolutely insulting” and “almost unimaginable” She wrote, “Eff off with that nonsense.”
Becket Adams, a Washington Examiner writer, also said, “referring to Black mothers collectively as “black birthing people” undermines their inherent dignity and humanity, which is the opposite of the congresswoman’s stated goal.”
“Birthing people” – you mean women or moms? ” South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace wrote. “The left is so woke they’re stripping from women the one thing that only we can do. Leave it to libs to botch highlighting an important issue ppl in both parties can agree on by catering to the fringes…”
