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US President Joe Biden's administration is facing criticism after it replaced the word "mothers" with "birthing people" in Maternal Health Guidance of the country's 2022 fiscal year budget.
The budget includes a public health section which addresses efforts to "reduce maternal mortality rates and end race-based disparities in maternal mortality." "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 colour. To help end this high rate of maternal mortality and race-based disparities in outcomes among birthing people," reads the budget proposal. Critics of gender-inclusive terminology argue that it reduces women to their mechanical reproductive abilities, insults their special nurturing and child-rearing gifts, and diminishes the unique joys and challenges of the female experience. According to the American Magazine Newsweek, Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson responded incredulously tweeting, "Why does Biden want to cancel mothers?" "Biden's budget would literally erase the word 'mother' and replace it with the woke and watered-down term 'birthing people' in relation to maternal health. Why does Biden want to cancel mothers?" she asked. Meanwhile, the pro-choice nonprofit NARAL defended the 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." The Biden budget proposal goes on to include "more than 200 million US Dollars to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates nationwide; bolster Maternal Mortality Review Committees; expand the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies program." It also aims to improve readiness for future public health crises. For this, it includes 8.7 billion Dollars in discretionary funding for CDC--the largest budget authority increase in nearly two decades-- to restore capacity at the world's preeminent public health agency. "Building on the investments in the American Rescue Plan, CDC would use this additional funding to support core public health capacity improvements in States and Territories, modernize public health data collection nationwide, train new epidemiologists and other public health experts, and rebuild international capacity to detect, prepare for, and respond to emerging global threats," it stated further. (ANI)
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