(LifeSiteNews) – The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced that it believes birth certificates shouldn’t list biological sex because it can supposedly be discriminatory.
According to a plan proposed by the AMA last week, the sex of the individual would still be recorded on the certificate of live birth, which is used for data collection, WEBMD News reported. However, the individual’s birth certificate would not disclose biological sex, as this might lead to discrimination against those who later wish to change their gender.
Similarly, the June Board Report 15, written by Dr. Willie Underwood III, stated, “Existing AMA policy recognizes that every individual has the right to determine their gender identity and sex designation on government documents.”
“To protect individual privacy and to prevent discrimination, U.S. jurisdictions should remove sex designation on the birth certificate,” Underwood continued.
The report stated that 48 states and the District of Columbia currently allow individuals to officially change their sex on their birth certificates. Ten states also offer a “gender-neutral” option for birth certificates.
“Our American Medical Association will advocate for the removal of sex as a legal designation on the public portion of the birth certificate, recognizing that information on an individual’s sex designation at birth will still be submitted through the U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth for medical, public health, and statistical use only,” the report read.
Dr. Jeremy Toler, representative from GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, claimed, “We unfortunately still live in a world where it is unsafe in many cases for one’s gender to vary from the sex assigned at birth.”
Dr. Sarah Mae Smith of California, spoke on behalf of the Women Physicians Section, saying, “We need to recognize gender is not a binary but a spectrum.” She compared recording the gender of a child to recording the race of the parents of the child.
“Thankfully, a change was made to obviate at least that avenue for discriminatory practices,” she said.
“Now, likewise, the information on sex assigned at birth is being used to undermine the rights of our transgender, intersex, and nonbinary patients,” Smith continued.
On the other hand, Dr. Robert Jackson, a representative from the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, opposed this decision, saying, “We as physicians need to report things accurately. All through medical school, residency, and specialty training, we were supposed to delegate all of the physical findings of the patient we’re taking care of.”
“I think when the child is born, they do have physical characteristics either male or female and I think that probably should be on the public record,” he continued.