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'Birthing People': Harvard panel claims 'not all who give birth' are women, sparks fury

Harvard Medical School was slammed across social media for supposedly dehumanizing women as mere parts

A Harvard Medical School Department Twitter account claimed that not all those who give birth are women. 

The department took to social media to share a tweet that referred to women as "birthing people" and claimed that "not all who give birth". The Harvard Med postgraduate and continuing education who are promoting a panel on "maternal justice" shared, "Globally, ethnic minority pregnant and birthing people suffer worse outcomes and experiences during and after pregnancy and childbirth."

The tweet continued, "These inequities have been further highlighted by #COVID19" and also featured a link to Harvard School's "Health Disparities Resources for Providers." 

However, their tweet did not sit well with social media users who took to slamming them in the comments section. The amount of backlash that they received led them to share a follow-up post explaining why they had chosen to put forth such a term. 

The accounts follow up tweet read, "The webinar panelists used the term ‘birthing person’ to include those who identify as non-binary or transgender because not all who give birth identify as 'women' or ‘girls'." They further added, "We understand the reactions to this terminology and in no way meant for it to erase or dehumanize women."

The panel on "Maternal Justice Across the Atlantic: Race, Pregnancy and Birth Equity in the United States and Great Britain" also refers to women as "birthing people". 

Many social media users were left outraged at their tweets and took to the comments section to say so. One such user shared, "WOMEN - SAY IT! They're WOMEN!! Only females give birth. Biological fact, and nothing in your fevered, politically correct hive mind can change that. The variables are that some women have issues that prevent childbirth, but 100% of the time, males DO NOT GIVE BIRTH."

Another added, "If only there was a better term for "pregnant and birthing people". I have an idea, maybe we could use "women". I know it's really avant-garde and out there, but try it as a biologically accurate term." Yet another commented, "We're Women. We're mothers. We will fight to pass the word 'Woman' to our daughters. What other class of people would you reduce to a function? This is indicative of the misogyny society is steeped in; this erasure shows Women never mattered in the first place.We say No. Hear us."

"Science needs precise terminology. Biological women give birth. Biological men do not. When talking about science and physical reality, leave the lifestyle choices out of it. It helps no one to play these PC games," another social media wrote. 

Yet another user shared, "Wow, your panelists are all women? They just degraded billions of women including themselves and apparently it doesn’t bother them. Your new words “birthing person” is a no go. Women=Mothers."

Recently, Harvard had promoted the claim that "2+2= 5" as per the US News and World Report. Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health had put out a tweet and shared an article from Popular Mechanics called "Why Some People Think 2+2=5… and why they’re right" back in August.