Posted on March 30, 2023
Recently, I submitted letters to several area publications in response to legislation that was proposed by Democrat lawmakers that deleted references to women and mothers from bill language.
I’d like to share that letter with you. This isn’t an issue that’s limited to this bill, it is part of a concerted effort to delete women from our laws, and I will continue to stand against this legislation, and bills like it.
Letter to the Editor:
Many women have, and continue to be, pioneers for Connecticut and the rest of our country. Whether it’s Prudence Crandall and Ella Grasso in Connecticut, or Susan B. Anthony, who fought for women to have the right to vote, their accomplishments should be recognized, not erased from history, as some Democrats are trying to do in Hartford.
I serve on the Children’s Committee where a bill, S.B. 1009, titled, “An Act Concerning Identified Adoptions” was proposed. The title may reference adoptions, but really, the legislation is just another attempt to remove women from existence.
The bill deletes words from current law including “expectant mother,” and “her” and replaces them with “pregnant person” and “such person.” The words “birth parent” are replaced by “alleged genetic parent.” Majority Democrats have made it seem as if this is done out of inclusion and gender neutrality.
But the fact is, these changes are not only offensive and a marginalization of women, but a manipulation of state statutes that push an ideological progressive agenda. There are biological males and then, there are biological females, who can give birth.
Women are mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers who deserve to be recognized, not erased. I am not simply the “birth parent” of my children, I am their mother. Women have fought for decades to have the same rights as anyone else, and this type of change in language only serves to reverse those gains. We have fought too long and too hard to have those accomplishments be erased with the stroke of a pen.
Removing references to the sex of mothers and “replacing words like ‘women’, with ‘birth-giver’ or “pregnant people” in research could have serious implications for women’s health, according to a recent article in The Hill. That article also cited medical experts who believed removing that language could have a “dehumanizing” effect on women.
Another bill would pay the cost of abortions for out-of-state women who are seeking an abortion in Connecticut. How many times are the words “pregnant mother,” or “woman” mentioned in that bill? Zero. Instead, women have been replaced by “patient.”
There is also no reason that Connecticut taxpayers should pay for services for people from other states when our residents do not receive necessary funding for critical needs. If women from other states want to get an abortion in Connecticut, then that is their right under current state law, but there is no reason why it should be funded by our taxpayers.
We live in a free country that is the best in the world, and I support anyone’s choice to identify however they choose, but those liberties should not come at the detriment of women.