Woke council wants to replace word 'women' with 'people with ovaries'

A UK council has been slammed as "scientifically illiterate" for arguing that pregnant women should be called "people with ovaries" for "inclusivity" reasons. Bristol City Council also attracted major criticism for suggesting that the term "maternity" be replaced by "paternity" in a bid to avoid offending those identifying as transgender. The Green Party-run local authority made the comments in a 39-page response to a consultation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on its updated equalities guidance following April's Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman and a man.

The UK's highest-ranking appeals court said the definition of a woman and a man refer to the biological sex recorded at birth, rather than gender identity. In the submission, however, officials from Bristol urged the EHRC to increase support for biological men who want to "chestfeed" babies and called for the court to stop using gendered language in reference to "pregnant individuals".

The comments, first published by The Telegraph, warned that using "she/her" pronouns risked excluding transgender men and non-binary people, and instead argued that the more "inclusive" pronouns of "they/them" should be used across the board.

The council also cautioned that "individuals may not identify with the world maternity and prefer paternity" because the latter term is "gender neutral".

"We strongly advise the use of more inclusive language such as using 'they/them' to refer to all individuals or include other identities to reflect the diversity of individuals who access maternity or paternity services," it read. "This could include 'people with ovaries' or the term 'people who use paternity services'."

"The statement that pregnancy and maternity protections 'apply on the basis of biological sex' is too vague," it continued. "It is unclear whether it refers to anyone capable of pregnancy or only those who were assigned female at birth.

"If protections apply to anyone who can become pregnant including some trans men and non-binary peple, this should be stated clearly."

Critics have ridiculed the response, with Maya Forstater, chief executive of the sex-based rights charity Sex Matters suggesting that the Bristol council had "lost the plot".

"The move to erase sex-based language for women around pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding protections and services is not only nonsense from a scientific perspective, but deeply offensive to women," she said.

"The council talks about mitigating 'emotional and psychological distress' for trans-identifying women, but clear and factual language is critical for the safety and inclusion of all women. Women with learning difficulties and English as a second language deserve better than this virtue-signalling madness."

Mara Ricoy Olariaga, sexual and reproductive rights lead for the feminist organisation FiLiA, also warned of the "dehumanising" effects of "reducing women to our reproductive organs".

"Many women do not have ovaries due to age, illness, surgery or natural variation, yet they remain women," she told The Times. "Defining us by body parts both excludes these women and obscures the material reality of our lives."

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said it has "undertaken to review relevant policies and procedures following publication of the updated statutory guidance from the EHRC".