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Commentary By Ilya Shapiro, Colin Wright

Trump Can Ban Transgender Birth Certificates

Governance Gender Ideology

Most states allow natives to alter their recorded sex, an affront against science and a danger to women.

The unstoppable force of left-wing science denial has collided with an immovable object: Donald Trump. On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order affirms that a person’s sex is immutable and intrinsically tied to the type of “reproductive cell”—sperm or egg—he or she can or would produce. It also rejects the unscientific notion that subjective “gender identity” can replace biological sex.

We welcome this return to science-based definitions of male and female. It’s essential, however, to highlight some pitfalls to avoid and draw attention to an area where further executive action is needed to protect women’s rights.

Section 3 of the order requires the secretary of health and human services to provide the government and the public with clear guidance “expanding on the sex-based definitions set forth in this order.” But why expand on the order’s accurate and straightforward definitions of the terms “sex,” “male” and “female”? On this topic, simplicity is key.

Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)

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Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here. Colin Wright is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images