Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Jay Richards and Bailey Duquette partner Laura Dunn speak to Fox News Digital about the impact of erasing gendered language from state law.
Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to apparently remove gendered language from state law is sparking debate about the impact it could have on the family and society at large.
Evers has come under fire after introducing a budget recommendation that would change the word “mother” to “inseminated person” in the context of IVF and “paternity” to “parentage” in some parts of state law.
The Evers administration’s budget recommendation for the 2025-2027 fiscal period also advises several other gendered terms be changed. References to “wife” or “husband” are changed to “spouse” in the proposal. In other places, the word “father” is changed to “parent,” and “mother” is swapped out for the phrase “parent who gave birth to the child.”
Now, critics are analyzing the impact these changes could have on culture as a whole.
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Jay Richards, the director of the DeVos Center for Life, Religion and Family, argued that the proposal is an “ideological campaign” and explained that understanding reality is partly shaped by the language the culture uses. If people cannot distinguish between the sexes in language, it will be more difficult for young people to understand the reality of sex and marriage, he argued.
“If somebody says these kind of word changes are not a big deal, I always say, ‘OK, then why are you trying to do it?’ ….Clearly, somebody thinks it’s a big deal, or they would not have bothered to actually do it,” he told Fox News Digital.
Richards said that gender ideologues are trying to “erase language that would refer to the reality of sex” and proposals like Evers’ could cause confusion among young people about marriage. The most “perverse” consequence of gender ideology, he argued, is that many children growing up in 2025 entertain the “thought that they might be born in the wrong body.”
“In other words, that their self and their body are these two fundamentally different things, and so if they feel discomfort with their body, rather than learning to become satisfied and content with their body, they imagine that through drugs and surgery, they can transform their body to conform to some kind of internal idea,” he said. “That, to me, is the most toxic aspect of gender ideology because it essentially alienates children from the bodies that God has given them.”
Laura Dunn, a civil and victims’ rights attorney and Bailey Duquette partner, had a different perspective, explaining she is “happy” and “hopeful” to see Evers’ proposed changes because they take into consideration “generations that are feeling more free to express gender identity” while under “heavy attack.”
Dunn argued that those hoping to stick to the “gender binary” don’t often consider the “real-life consequences from individuals who are being discriminated, targeted, harassed and even abused as a result of breaking those forced norms and deciding to identify how they want.”
“Our Constitution doesn’t just guarantee liberty, it actually guarantees the pursuit of happiness, which is self-expression, which is allowing people to identify how they feel,” she said. “It is inherently part of the freedom of our country to have more openness and inclusiveness, and it’s very alarming in this political era, to see a backlash against that.”
Evers defended the changes by arguing they’re designed to provide legal clarity in state law for families and those who use IVF.
“What we want is legal certainty that moms are able to get the care they need,” Evers told reporters in Wausau on Monday. “That’s it. End of story.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Evers, and his office did not respond to requests for comment. However, he has argued the proposals are designed to provide legal clarity in state law for families and those who use IVF.
“What we want is legal certainty that moms are able to get the care they need,” Evers told reporters last month. “That’s it. End of story.”
