OPINION:
For those who think that Dobbs v. Jackson sent the issue of abortion back to the states never to return to the nation’s capital, think again.
An effort is underway within the Biden administration to write abortion on demand through all nine months into buried regulations that have the force of law, accomplishing with some rewrites what President Biden and his abortion-loving allies can’t in Congress or in court. In proposed changes to regulations at Health and Human Services as well as at the Department of Education, Roe could essentially be reinstated. And the proposed sneaky manipulations of health care and educational mandates are in the works right now, as the Biden administration again turns to change the definition of words to coerce a win.
A new abortion mandate is disguised in proposed changes to the Department of Education’s Title IX protections, which were designed to shield women, as well as in the Department of Health and Human Services Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which is why Students for Life Action is calling on voters to oppose changes to the language for the currently pro-woman Title IX program as well as for the health care regulations. Changing the language means adding requirements for abortion as well as for treatments that can sterilize people, including minors.
What does a program designed to help women — pregnant or parenting, athletes or students — have in common with a plan to create a new income stream and mandate for Planned Parenthood’s business model? It all depends on what the definition of women is, and which “women’s issue” you intend to defend.
In 1972, before Roe v. Wade wiped out all abortion-related laws in favor of abortion on demand through all nine months, Title IX was enacted to address unfairness in sports in particular, because women had few opportunities in school settings. Consider that “in 1972 there were just 30,000 women participating in NCAA sports, as opposed to 170,000 men.”
Over time, Title IX’s application in educational settings was expanded to address sexual harassment, which prevents women from fully participating in school life, as well as acts of discrimination against pregnant and parenting students. It’s been a tremendous success story for women, which makes the Biden administration’s efforts to strip protections hard to fathom — until you factor in an abortion agenda in disguise.
In redefining terms and expanding definitions — of what is a woman et al. — the Biden administration is attempting to move through both the Department of Education’s Title IX, and now the Department of Health and Human Services Affordable Care Act regulations, to create a fill-in-the-blank definition for sex and to require all kinds of mandates in the name of nondiscrimination.
When it comes to the proposed health care mandates, the former attorney general of California and now-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is all in for more abortion. The HHS news release “(m)akes clear that discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or related conditions, including ‘pregnancy termination.’”
This radical twist on discrimination essentially requires health care providers and policymakers — government health care included — to give people whatever they want, from plastic surgery to permanent physical change, as well as abortion because anything less would be punishable. Medical professionals who want to decline won’t get a “Get-Out-of-Woke-Free” card, as saying “no thank you” is clearly not an option in policy changes announced in the name of “nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
When you consider that the human brain is not even fully matured until age 25, fast-tracking life-changing, fertility-ending surgeries or life-ending abortions for minors makes no sense at all, and many people at 25 (or 35 or beyond) have regretted decisions made at 15.
Between the two policy changes, the one thing that would no longer matter is whether someone really was a biological woman. All that would matter — legally speaking — will be what any individual says.
The big winners of these changes will be Planned Parenthood and Corporate Abortion in forcing taxpayers to underwrite their abortion and gender transitioning business, as well as gender bullies who can use the regulations against those who don’t share their views.
Title IX has been very important to Students for Life’s “Standing with You” 50-state support program providing information and connection to services from the federal level all the way to the local community, including a “Pregnant and Parenting Bill of Rights” for students. Women have depended on Title IX as a protection for them specifically.
A radical industry is hiding its business behind talking points about health care, discrimination and identity, trying to crush any reluctance to use health insurance and educational access for a social experiment. At issue is whether our health care and educational regulations can be altered to prioritize abortion.
We are not just losing women’s sports; we are losing all perspectives on what it means to be male or female. And some people will forever lose their fertility, whether from abortion or so-called gender treatments, along with the ability to change their minds and hold a child of their own in their arms.
• Kristan Hawkins is president of Students for Life of America & Students for Life Action with more than 1,300 groups on educational campuses in all 50 states. Follow her @KristanHawkins or subscribe to her podcast, Explicitly Pro-Life. Camille Cisneros is manager of Students for Life of America’s Standing with You and a Title IX Coordinator & Administrator Level Two Certified with ATIXA — Association of Title IX Administrators.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.