The update comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January aimed at ‘defending women from gender ideology extremism.’
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Feb. 19 issued new guidance updating its official definitions of terms such as sex, female, and male as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restore “the concept of biological truth” in the federal government.
It marks one of the first actions taken by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following his confirmation last week.
The guidance was released to the U.S. government, external partners, and the public to “expand on the clear sex-based definitions” outlined in a January executive order signed by Trump, called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
That order stated, in part, that the Trump administration “will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
The new HHS guidance reiterates the Trump administration’s stance that male and female are the only two sexes and that they cannot be changed.
Specifically, it defines the term “sex” as “a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
Female is defined as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs,” while male is defined as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.”
A woman is “an adult human female.” A man is “an adult human male,” the guidance states.
A mother is described as a female parent and a father is described as a male parent.
The HHS will use these definitions and promote policies acknowledging that “women are biologically female and men are biologically male,” according to the guidance.
“This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”
