Tipsheet

American Medical Association Under Fire After Calling for Removal of Sex from Public Birth Certificates

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  August 03, 2021 2:30 PM

On Friday, online health news and information publisher WebMD spotlighted a report published by the American Medical Association (AMA) in June that called for the removal of sex as a legal designation on the public portion of birth certificates, prompting politicians, news commentators and other public figures to react to the news.

WebMD drew attention to the AMA’s report in a tweet, shared on Friday, that linked to an article on the organization’s website that described the contents of the report. Among them was the issue at hand: eliminating sex from public birth records and reserving it for statistical and medical use only. 

“Our American Medical Association advocate for the removal of sex as a legal designation on the public portion of the birth certificate and that it be visible for medical and statistical use only,” the report states. “Gender is a social construct that describes the way persons self-identify or express themselves. A person’s gender identity may not always be exclusively male or female and may not always correspond with their sex assigned at birth.”

Needless to say, WebMD’s tweet prompted a slew of passionate responses from a variety of public figures. Many users, including former Governor of South Carolina and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, weighed in. Haley described it as “the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.” And like Haley, many users criticized the report, describing the biological differences between men and women vital for many reasons, especially when treating illnesses specific to each sex and citing the AMA's overall rejection of science.