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Cori Bush slammed for saying 'birthing people' while discussing maternal death rate: 'Stop erasing women'

Sick trolls began to bash Congresswoman Bush for using a gender-neutral term while testifying in Congress as lawmakers pushed to address the rising maternal death rate, particularly among Black women

Congresswoman Cori Bush has once again been targeted by sick trolls after her recent speech in Congress where she spoke about her horrific experience birthing her two children because her doctors didn't believe her pain. The speech was a part of her testimony which was heard by the Committee on Oversight and Reform after lawmakers pushed to address the rising maternal death rate, particularly among Black women. 

Bush shared the video on her Twitter page with the caption, "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." The term "birthing people" didn't sit well with people and they immediately started to shame Bush for not using the words "mother" or "women" instead. 

Bush recounted how she constantly threw up and felt nauseous during her first pregnancy but the doctor she was consulting at the time sent her home telling her she was fine. A week later she went into preterm labor and delivered her son at 23 weeks. He weighed 1 pound and 3 ounces and had to spend four months in neonatal intensive care. Bush went into preterm labor during her second pregnancy as well and another doctor at the same clinic asked her to go home and let the baby abort. Bush also said the doctor said it will be fine and she could get pregnant again as "that's what you people do". 

Her sister threw a chair down the hallway in desperation and that's when Bush found the help she needed. Another doctor agreed to place a temporary cervical cerclage, a surgical stitch that keeps the cervix closed. This allowed Bush to carry her daughter, Angel, to term. 

According to Harvard Public Health, the CDC in 2019 estimated that 700 to 900 new and expectant mothers died in the US each year. An additional 500,000 women experienced life-threatening postpartum complications. More than half of these deaths and near-death situations happened due to preventable causes and a disproportionate number of the women suffering were found to be Black.

"Every day Black women are subjected to harsh and racist treatment during pregnancy and childbirth. Every day Black women die because the system denies our humanity. It denies patient care," she said. Bush added she was committed to protecting Black babies, Black mothers, to protect Black birthing people and to save lives.

As soon as Bush posted the video, sick trolls began to slam her for using the gender-inclusive term. One of the tweets read, "This is how all the average Joes and Janes down at the local diner talk. They refer to those who give birth as 'birthing people'". An editor for Daily Wire, Ian Haworth too weighed in on the situation saying the term birthing people "erases women." Journalist and activist Cassandra Fairbanks said, "Feminists out here fully erasing women." Author Tim Carney wrote, "This is s--t. 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."

Along with the trolls, there were people who fully understood and supported Bush's decision to use "birthing people" in her testimony. "The way that folks go MILES out of their way to be mad at gender-inclusive language is embarrassing. Women who can give birth are inherently included in "birthing people"...as are people who aren't women and can also give birth. This isn't difficult. Folks just wanna be hateful," a tweet read. "You all know there are people who give birth who are not mothers, right? There is a whole industry around surrogacy. Surrogates are "birthing people" who are subsequently not parents to the children they birth. Everything isn't worth having a performance meltdown over," another tweet read. Another user explained, "A surrogate in labour is a birthing person, as is a trans man, a cis woman, a nonbinary individual, a person who will be giving up their baby for adoption, etc. Not all birthing people are mothers. hope this helps!!"