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Democrat Governor Wants To Remove ‘Mothers’ And ‘Pregnant Woman’ From State Health Code
Daily Wire ^ | 08/27/2026 | Megan Brock

Posted on 08/28/2026 8:26:16 AM PDT by DFG

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is quietly trying to erase women and mothers from his state’s health code.

The Democrat’s administration has removed female terminology and replaced it with transgender-inclusive language in a proposed overhaul to Pennsylvania’s health code. The terms “pregnant woman” and “mother of a newborn” have been replaced with “pregnant or postpartum individual” throughout the 502-page proposal, which was announced on August 8. Women who have given birth to a stillborn baby are no longer called a “mother” but are instead referred to as a “postpartum individual” in the proposed regulation changes.

Shapiro is pushing to give Pennsylvania’s Department of Health centralized police powers under the guise of “disease control measures” through expansive proposed regulatory changes to the health code, as The Daily Wire previously reported. These expanded powers include the ability to enter homes and schools without a warrant, access confidential medical records, and impose statewide school mask mandates for disease prevention. The Department of Health reports to the governor’s office, meaning this change would give Shapiro — and his successors — the ability to single-handedly implement draconian policies across the state.

“Somehow, in the midst of hundreds of pages of new government mandates, the department also found it necessary to erase words like ‘pregnant woman’ and ‘mother’ in the regulations and replace them with terms like ‘pregnant individual,'” Pennsylvania lawmaker Michele Brooks told The Daily Wire.

Transgender activists believe men can give birth and that obstetricians and gynecologists should use transgender inclusive language when delivering female healthcare. The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) told doctors to “make their offices inclusive and inviting to all individuals who need obstetric or gynecologic health care” and to “educate themselves and their medical teams about appropriate language and the health care needs of transgender patients,” in an online statement.

“Some postpartum transgender individuals may not identify as ‘mothers;’ thus, obstetrician–gynecologists and other health care professionals should be mindful of the language they use. It may be appropriate to use a more neutral term, such as ‘parent,’” wrote ACOG in a March 2021 committee opinion titled “Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals.”

Randall Wenger, chief counsel of the Independence Law Center, told The Daily Wire that Shapiro’s language changes reveal a “triumph of ideology over biology.”

“The changing of language in the [Department of Health] regulations represents the triumph of ideology over biology,” Wenger told The Daily Wire. “This change of language doesn’t reflect reality; it obscures it. It erases female identity as a stable category in favor of a fluid concept of gender. The Shapiro administration is so concerned with affirming transgender identity that it can no longer recognize the realities of biological sex. The department cannot pretend to fight dangerous diseases with its delusions about gender.”

Shapiro ardently supports transgenderism and allowing children access to harmful sex-change interventions.

“I want to say, especially to our trans children, I see you and I love you,” Shapiro said at a July 2024 pride event in Harrisburg. “I’ve gone to court to protect our trans kids and I’ll continue to stand in the town squares and town halls in every community across Pennsylvania — rural, urban, and suburban — and proclaim loudly and clearly that we love all God’s children, including our trans children.”

Shapiro joined a group of state attorneys general in his capacity as Pennsylvania’s Governor and sued the Trump administration for banning pediatric transgender medical procedures such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries, in August 2025.

Shapiro created the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs in June 2023 that engages in LGBTQ activism throughout Pennsylvania and provides the administration with legislative and policy recommendations. Ashleigh Strange, who identifies as “they/them,” is the executive director of the Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs and is paid an annual salary of $106,289, according to a government transparency website.

“We are an advisory commission, so there are 30 people all across the Commonwealth who are dedicated to getting the information from the LGBTQ community to the governor’s office. And everyone in the governor’s office and all of the agencies under his purview are dedicated to making sure that the LGBTQ community is safe, seen, and heard,” Strange said in a July 2026 social media post. “We know that our communities are under attack. The governor knows this.”

Governor Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Health did not respond to The Daily Wire’s requests for comment.


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: healthcode; joshshapiro; pennsylvania
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first 1-2021-35 next last

1 posted on 08/28/2026 8:26:16 AM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG

These people are absolutely insane and evil. Good lord.


2 posted on 08/28/2026 8:28:10 AM PDT by Hyman Roth
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To: DFG
Democrats are at war against human existence.

They are species secessionists.

3 posted on 08/28/2026 8:28:16 AM PDT by Salman (We need to proceed as if the system were completely broken. Because it is. )
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To: DFG

Insane......There is no other word for it that qualifies..................


4 posted on 08/28/2026 8:28:54 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: DFG

How much further will this insanity go? But for those normal people thinking of relocating it makes shortening the list of acceptable states much easier.


5 posted on 08/28/2026 8:29:16 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: DFG

I always thought Shapiro was smart. I guess not. He wants to run for President and is trying to position himself as the successful governor of a large purple state. But nonsense like this is a huge, unnecessary red flag that doesn’t help him with the Left and hurts him with the sane center and Right.


6 posted on 08/28/2026 8:30:51 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: DFG

Sounds like Shapiro is angling for the woke/communist vote should he run for president.


7 posted on 08/28/2026 8:32:26 AM PDT by packagingguy
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To: Hyman Roth
Shapiro and MOST of those STEERING this insanity don't believe in our Lord.

YEAH, I SAID IT.

8 posted on 08/28/2026 8:38:51 AM PDT by CivilWarBrewing (Get off my back for my usage of CAPS, especially you snowflake males! MAN UP!)
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To: DFG

This assault on language is designed to remove a subject’s ability to reason.


9 posted on 08/28/2026 8:40:08 AM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
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To: DFG

This assault on language is designed to remove a subject’s ability to reason.


10 posted on 08/28/2026 8:40:41 AM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
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To: DFG

He’s nuts - is he also a commie or just a reality denier?


11 posted on 08/28/2026 8:41:25 AM PDT by GOPJ (Crime is down in the United States because Trump is sending ALL the damn illegals home. Thanks ICE!)
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To: DFG

Bookmark


12 posted on 08/28/2026 8:42:47 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: DFG

This is why I encourage people to stay sober during regular business hours. When do we start Drug Testing elected officials???


13 posted on 08/28/2026 8:43:35 AM PDT by eyeamok
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To: DFG

He is what passes as a “moderate” for the Democrats these days!


14 posted on 08/28/2026 8:44:33 AM PDT by Joann37 (This )
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To: AlaskaErik

“How much further will this insanity go?”

Until the word before theuir name is changed from governor to unemployed. New pronouns to use:

They / Them / Their (e.g., “They are unemployed right now.”)

wy69


15 posted on 08/28/2026 8:44:37 AM PDT by whitney69 (`)
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To: DFG

This guys up 50% over 34% Garity. He also wants the health commission to have the right to enter your home without a warrant, when there is a planedemic . This guy has to go!!!!!!
Come on Pennsylvania, oust this commie prick.


16 posted on 08/28/2026 8:45:36 AM PDT by spincaster (i)
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To: DFG

Evidently not very bright. He’s an attorney, but then I repeat myself..


17 posted on 08/28/2026 8:45:42 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: Salman

Shapiro and his ilk (or ICK) seem HELL BENT on turnin their party into the DEMONRAT party!


18 posted on 08/28/2026 8:46:47 AM PDT by milagro (There is no peace in appeasement! )
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To: DFG

DO IT, Evil one!


19 posted on 08/28/2026 8:47:47 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: DFG

It’s Women and the democrats want the eliminate all Women


20 posted on 08/28/2026 8:49:47 AM PDT by butlerweave (Fateh)
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