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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTwo Republican candidates for Indiana governor are condemning the Indiana Department of Health’s use of the trans-inclusive term “chest/breastfeeding” in a recent social media post.
In a now-deleted tweet, the health department invoked the term “chestfeeding” in a promotional post about the upcoming Indiana Breastfeeding Conference happening in Noblesville Aug. 1.
Eric Doden, the Fort Wayne business executive running for governor, was the first candidate to denounce the use of the word, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is used by many masculine-identified trans people to describe the act of feeding their baby from their chest, regardless of whether they have had chest/top surgery.
“The woke language games end Day 1 when I’m Governor,” Doden tweeted Wednesday. “We’re getting back to and standing up for reality.”
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch issued a statement Thursday strongly condemning the agency’s use of the term.
“We don’t advance the cause of women’s rights or improve their level of healthcare by diluting our unique place in society. As a woman and a mom, I find the Department of Health’s use of the term ‘chestfeeding’ insensitive and demeaning.,” the statement read.
The state health department did not immediately respond to IBJ’s request for comment on its deleted tweet, which said: “Join @Statehealthin next week at the 2023 Breastfeeding Conference for a day of learning, networking and connection! Hear dynamic speakers and take valuable knowledge back to your community to support chest/breastfeeding families.”
The term “chest/breastfeeding” also was removed from the breastfeeding event’s registration website.
The two other candidates in the Republican governor’s race, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun and former Indiana attorney general Curtis Hill, did not respond to IBJ’s request for comment on the issue. The four candidates are running to succeed GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb, who cannot run for a third term under state law.
The CDC recently released guidance that said transgender parents who have had breast/top surgery that wish to breastfeed can work with their health care provider to “provide optimal family-centered care and meet the nutritional needs of the infant.”
That language also drew outrage from some Republican federal lawmakers. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, issued a letter to CDC director Mandy Cohen that said the guidance “seems driven by political considerations rather than science, and the Agency has provided no explanation of the reasoning and data behind these recommendations.”
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Who cares. Tell us what you’re going to do for Hoosiers
They’re telling you what they’re going to do for Hoosiers …
It sure isn’t better roads or better schools or better jobs.
@Joe B. Yeah, they are going to engage in ridiculous culture wars that result in nothing meaningful except a further divided electorate
I care. I’m tired of the semantic verbal fantasy land that liberals want to live in by calling people things are not. Men are men and women are women. End of story.
It super doesn’t matter, Glen. Being respectful to people and people being true to their own identity has no negative impact on you. There are zero (0) things that will get worse for you in any measurable fashion by leaving people alone.
A.R. FTW! 🙌
Government breaking down societal norms to destroy the nuclear family!
That is what they are going to do.
The nuclear family was never really a thing to begin with, just an ideology. Only 18% of American households are “nuclear families.” It’s not something that is a concern to the vast, vast majority of people, nor do they care. What people care about is how potential leadership would address major issues in housing, education, pollution, transportation, etc., not the culture war noise.
Courageously taking on the tough issues most important to Hoosiers. Well done!
Yes, focus on more important things for sure. But “chest feeding”? – c’mon now, let’s not get too stupid here. Don’t you need “breasts” to “breastfeed” or am I missing something? When did simple stuff suddenly get more complicated…
“Control language and you control the masses” – George Orwell. Unfortunately many on the left think 1984 was an instruction manual. That’s why the left always project and pooh pooh anyone that stands up to them as being engaged in a culture war. In fact they fired the first shots in the culture war with ridiculous terms like “chest feeding” and “birthing person.”
Getting angry about something that has absolutely no impact on you whatsoever is not the flex you think it is.
A R. +1
🙌