By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Baptist, challenged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra about the choice of language in the Biden Administration’s $6 trillion budget request that refers to “mothers” as “birthing people.” During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, June 10, Lankford conducted a blunt interview, pressing Becerra to explain the unusual phrasing. But Becerra dodged even repeating Lankford’s use of “mother.” “I was a little taken aback when I just read it and saw that the term ‘mother’ was gone in spots, and it was replaced with ‘birthing people,’” Lankford said. “Is this a direction you are going—regulatory changes that are happening or what the purpose of that is? Becerra told Lankford, “I think it’s probably—and again I’d have to go back and take a look at the language that was used in the budget—but I think again it simply reflects the work that’s being done.” But Lankford pushed back, asking Becerra to “admit that calling a ‘mom’ a ‘birthing person’ could be offensive – that they don’t want to get a ‘Happy Birthing Person’ card in May.” However, Becerra declined to answer the question, telling Lankford, instead, … [Read more...]