The Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently issued new guidelines on the biological differences between men and women, which have been met with criticism from CNN hosts.
They argue that these "new definitions" are more restrictive than those employed by "most scientists."
The HHS unveiled these guidelines on Wednesday, aiming to enforce sex-based definitions across the federal government and its partners. This move is an extension of President Donald Trump's executive order signed last month, titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
The guidelines assert that there are only two sexes: male and female. The HHS will utilize these definitions and promote policies that acknowledge women as biologically female and men as biologically male. The guidelines further clarify that a male is a person "of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm," while a female is a "person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova)."
However, CNN host Brianna Keilar has contested these definitions, stating without evidence that "most scientists" use less restrictive definitions. "In one of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s first moves as secretary of Health and Human Services, the agency has released new guidance that gives a narrower definition of sex than the ones used by most scientists," Keilar said on Thursday.
As reported by Fox News, co-host Boris Sanchez added that this language aligns with President Trump's executive order and includes new definitions for terms such as sex, female, woman, male, man, and more.
CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard noted that the guidelines define sex as a person's immutable biological classification as either male or female, meaning the definition cannot change. A woman is defined as an adult human female, and a man as an adult human male.
Howard also noted that some unnamed critics argue that these new definitions fail to accommodate individuals who are intersex, which constitutes up to 2% of the U.S. population. These individuals' reproductive anatomy does not fit the traditional male-female binary. Critics also argue that these definitions could perpetuate discrimination against the transgender community, potentially leading to discriminatory policies and practices.
When asked about the potential real-world consequences for patients and doctors, Howard suggested that there could be a loss of data from this community, citing unnamed critics. "Critics say the real-world consequence can be seen in research, for instance," Howard said. "When it [comes] to collecting data and surveying patients who are either intersex or transgender, that means that they would not fall under these new definitions in research and in data."
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