Male Labour MP Alex Sobel has said the NHS should stop using “gendered vocabulary” when treating pregnant women, adding that cutting off a woman’s breasts “drastically improves well-being and saves lives”. The Telegraph has more.
Alex Sobel, Leeds Central and Headingley MP, said doctors should use gender-neutral language when referring to expectant parents to include transgender men [i.e., women who identify as men].
Speaking during a debate on International Men’s Day, he said failing to ask a transgender man if there was a possibility [she] could be pregnant before hospital treatment could result in “serious consequences”.
Trans men, who were born female but identify as male, do not always undergo gender reassignment surgery, meaning that in some circumstances they could still become pregnant.
Mr. Sobel, 49, told the Commons: “Across the NHS there needs to be a greater awareness of trans men and trans masculine people who have given birth.
“For example [if] a trans man is not asked whether he [sic] could [be] pregnant before receiving a dose of radiation, there could be serious consequences.
“We can begin by removing gendered vocabulary from pregnancy care and parenthood.”
He also warned that trans men “face a number of barriers in accessing equal quality healthcare on the NHS”, including long waiting lists for breast removal surgery.
“This leaves a situation where trans men and trans masculine individuals are forced to pay for private care, which not everyone can do, as we know,” he said.
“Or to put up with dysphoria and other associated mental health impacts, for which there is a lack of sector-wide support and training.
“Top surgery [i.e., removal of the breasts] drastically improves well-being and saves lives.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Male ‘transgender’ police officers can strip-search women under new guidance issued by the British Transport Police (BTP), allowing male staff “identifying as female” to intimately search women so long as they have a gender recognition certificate (GRC). The Telegraph has more.
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