Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee hearing about the Biden administration&#8217;s fiscal year 2022 HHS budget request, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was confronted by Oklahoma GOP Senator James Lankford about the removal of the word “mother” and the insertion of the term “birthing people.”
When Lankford asked for a good definition of “birthing people,” Becerra was literally unable to say the word “mother,&#8221; instead grinning and responding,  “I don’t know how else to explain it to you other than” before his voice petered out.
Prior to that exchange, Lankford questioned Becerra about religious freedom, saying, “At your nomination hearing, you and I talked about the conscience and freedom, and freedom and faith, all those protections that are there. I was surprised to see the language in the budget; it stripped out much of that language that had existed in previous budgets about freedom of conscience, freedom of religion. And it also seems that you’re eliminating the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division. Is that true? In your budget, are you eliminating the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division?”
“We’re going to continue to do the work to protect the religious, civil, constitutional rights of all Americans under HHS’ purview, and we are going to be a solid organization through the Office of Civil Rights that we have to make sure we’re protecting everyone’s rights, including religious conscience rights,” Becerra protested.
“But you’re taking away that division as a priority and putting it under something else or where is it going?” Lankford queried.
“It continues to function; the work continues to be functioning under the Offices of Civil Rights,” Becerra claimed.
Later Lankford cornered Becerra about the elision of the word “mother,” asserting, “I also notice you changed a term in your budget where you shifted in places from using the term ‘mother’ to ‘birthing people’ rather than ‘mother.’ Can you help me get a good definition of ‘birthing people?’”
Becerra deflected, “Well, I’ll check on the language there, but I think if we’re talking about those who give birth I think we’re talking about —” Unable to bring himself to say “mother,” Becerra grinned, “I don’t know how else to explain it to you other than &#8230;” as his voice petered out.
Lankford pressed, “I was a little taken aback when I just read it and saw it that the term ‘mother’ was gone and it was replaced with ‘birthing people” and I didn’t know if this was a direction you were going, if there were shifts, if there were regulatory changes that are happening related to that or what the purpose of that is.”
Becerra dodged, “I think it’s probably — and again I’d have to go back and take a look at the language that was used in the budget, but I think it simply reflects the work that is being done.”
“I definitely get that; I would only say the language is important always; we don’t want to offend in our language; I get that,” Lankford said. “But would you at least admit calling a mom a ‘birthing person’ could be offensive to some moms? They don’t want to get like a ‘Happy Birthing Person’ card in May. Can you at least admit that term itself could be offensive to some moms?”
Becerra still wouldn’t admit Lankford’s argument, instead laughing, “Senator, I’ll go back and take a look at the terminology that was used and I can get back to you, but again, if we’re trying to be precise in the language that’s used.”
Lankford fired, “Mom’s a pretty good word. That’s worked for a while and I think that’s pretty precise as well.”
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HHS Secretary Becerra Testifies Before Senate On Budget Request

WATCH: Biden’s HHS Sec Grins As He Refuses To Say The Word ‘Mother’ Instead Of ‘Birthing People’

James Lankford

Motherhood

Xavier Becerra

Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee hearing about the Biden administration&#039;s fiscal year 2022 HHS budget request, Health and Human Services

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When asked about the term “birthing people,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra struggled to describe what it actually means.
In Biden’s recent budget proposal, the term was used instead of “mothers,” as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-budget-proposal-refers-to-mothers-as-birthing-people">reported</a> by The Daily Wire.
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N18oBWG-iSE">asked</a> Becerra about the decision to include the term in his budget work instead of “mother.”
Lankford asked, “… can you help me get a good definition of ‘birthing people?’”
Becerra seemed to struggle to come up with an answer, instead using the term in the definition when he answered, “Well, I’ll check on the language there, but I think if we’re talking about those who give birth, I think we’re talking about — uh — I don’t know how else to explain it to you other than —”
Lankford said he was a little taken aback when he saw it and wanted to know if it was a direction in which Becerra was going, and if there are regulatory changes happening related to the decision.
Becerra said he would need to look at the language that was used in the budget, adding, “… I think it simply reflects the work that’s being done.”
Lankford acknowledged, “The language is important always. We don’t want to offend in our language. I get that, but would you at least admit calling a ‘mom’ a ‘birthing person’ could be offensive to some moms? … Can you at least admit that term itself could be offensive to some moms?”
Becerra again said that he would go back and look at the terminology that was used, but said, “we’re trying to be precise in the language that’s used.”
Lankford provided a mic-drop moment, saying, “‘Mom’s a pretty good word. That’s worked for a while, and I think that’s pretty precise, as well.”
The Biden administration has begun using the term “birthing people” in an apparent attempt to provide inclusivity to those who do not identify as “women,” but still give birth, further blurring the lines of distinction between the sexes. As Lankford alluded to, however, demeaning women to the act of giving birth could be offensive to mothers who see their role as much broader than an act of biology.
In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young stood by the use of the term in the budget proposal when she was asked about it.
As <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/biden-omb-doubles-down-redefining-004314408.html">reported</a> by Yahoo News, Republican Representative Jason Smith of Missouri pressed Young on the topic.
“The budget requests $26 million to reduce maternal mortality and eliminate race-based disparities in outcomes among ‘birthing people.’” Smith said. “This is a shift from recent budgets that referred to maternal health issues as women’s issues. I’ve never heard the term before, can you explain what it means?”
“There are certain people who do not have gender identities that apply to female and male, so we think our language needs to be more inclusive on how we deal with complex issues,” Young responded.
Young added, “I think the underlying issues … is to try to ensure those of color who are giving birth are leaving the hospital alive. That’s the issue rather than the verbiage. Verbiage matters, but the underlying issues are extremely important, and a lot of your colleagues are working hard on this. Because all of those giving birth should have access to the same quality of health.”
“So is the administration’s official policy to replace the term ‘woman’ with ‘birthing people’?” Smith asked.
Young replied, “I think our official policy is to make sure that when people get service from their government that they feel included, and we’re trying to use inclusive language.”
Watch the exchange between Lankford and Becerra <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N18oBWG-iSE">here</a>:
<iframe title="James Lankford asks Xavier Becerra why &#039;mothers&#039; was changed to &#039;birthing people&#039; in Biden&#039;s budget" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N18oBWG-iSE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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WATCH: HHS Secretary Struggles To Define Term ‘Birthing People’

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When asked about the term “birthing people,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra struggled to describe what it actually means.

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WATCH: Biden’s HHS Sec Grins As He Refuses To Say The Word ‘Mother’ Instead Of ‘Birthing People’

WATCH: HHS Secretary Struggles To Define Term ‘Birthing People’

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