Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Defining A Person's Sex At Birth And Making It Unchangeable Would Be 'An Insult To Science,' Biologists Say
The Associated Press: Science Says: Sex And Gender Aren't The Same
Anatomy at birth may prompt a check in the "male" or "female" box on the birth certificate — but to doctors and scientists, sex and gender aren't always the same thing. The Trump administration purportedly is considering defining gender as determined by sex organs at birth, which if adopted could deny certain civil rights protections to an estimated 1.4 million transgender Americans. (Neergaard, 10/23)
Stat: Scientists See A Problem With Trump Plan On Defining Sex: Biology
A new report that the Trump administration hopes to legally define a person’s sex at birth — an unchangeable condition determined by genitalia — has prompted an outcry among the transgender community. But beyond the political implications — and fears that any such change could ultimately mean the end of civil rights protections for transgender people — the proposal raises fundamental questions about something else: biology. The proposal is “highly inaccurate and just an insult to science. Basic science,” said Rachel Levin, a Pomona College neuroscientist who studies the development of sex. (Thielking, 10/22)
The New York Times: Anatomy Does Not Determine Gender, Experts Say
Researchers who have studied gender issues and provided health care to people who do not fit the typical M/F pigeonholes said that the Trump administration’s latest plan to define gender goes beyond the limits of scientific knowledge. “The idea that a person’s sex is determined by their anatomy at birth is not true, and we’ve known that it’s not true for decades,” said Dr. Joshua D. Safer, an endocrinologist and executive director of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. He is also president of the United States Professional Association of Transgender Health. (Grady, 10/22)
