US: Biological sex on birth certificates attacked by AMA

The largest medical association in the United States has called for biological sex to be removed from birth certificates.

The American Medical Association (AMA) said that it would “advocate for the removal of sex as a legal designation on the public portion of the birth certificate”, with biological sex being visible for “medical and statistical use only”.

The verdict comes after its trustees agreed with the association’s House of Delegates proposal.

Committee

In its report, the Board of Trustees said it was backed by the AMA’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee.

The committee argued that: “Assigning sex using a binary variable and placing it on the public portion of the birth certificate perpetuates a view that it is immutable and fails to recognize the medical spectrum of gender identity”.

It added that identifying people’s biological sex risked “stifling self expression and self-identification” and contributed to “marginalization and minoritization”.

The news generated backlash online, with one expectant US Congresswoman responding: “No. I am proudly having a baby boy.”

Self-ID

In June, the US State Department announced that citizens could now choose what sex is displayed on their passports, without requiring accompanying medical documentation.

The move, to fulfil of one of President Biden’s 2020 campaign promises, will also eventually include a third sex marker for “non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons”.

In the same month, New Jersey also announced that prisoners can be housed by their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

The change was made after a lawsuit and sees New Jersey join the handful of US states with similar policies.