The British General Medical Council (GMC) has updated its internal policy to remove all mentions of the word “mother” for its employees, opting instead for “parent” to avoid female-specific language.
The guidance also changed the term “surrogate mother” in favor of “surrogate parent,” explaining in a maternity document that the “GMC offers maternity to all colleagues going on maternity leave,” including so-called surrogate parents.
The GMC further updated its menopause advice to suggest that it does not only impact women, making clear that it “will work proactively to make adjustments where necessary to support individuals experiencing the menopause.”
Heather Welford of the maternity action group With Woman told one outlet following the guidance update, “[t]he decision by the GMC to obscure the fact that only women have babies is ideologically driven, medically inaccurate and unhelpful to women and babies. It moves away from the drive for plain English and makes medical literature unclear.”
“For medical professionals, the sex of a person is salient to their health care. Reputable organisations such as the GMC should not be changing language on a population level to pander to ideologically driven pressure groups,” she added.
This follows a British government-funded LGBT organization recommending people refer to vaginas as “bonus holes” to increase inclusivity earlier this summer.
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