By Joshua Arnold

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued “guidance to the U.S. government, external partners, and the public” on Wednesday, expanding “the clear sex-based definitions” President Donald Trump established in his Day-One executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The definitions represent a 180-degree reversal from the same department during the Biden administration, when it was saturated by transgender ideology.

“In health care, sex distinctions can influence disease presentation, diagnosis, and treatment differently in females and males,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health Dr. Dorothy Fink explained. “HHS recognizes that biological differences between females and males require sex-specific practices in medicine and research to ensure optimal health outcomes.”

According to an accompanying press release, HHS guidance to federal agencies and contractors includes the following definitions:

• “Woman: an adult human female.
• "Girl: a minor human female.
• "Man: an adult human male.
• "Boy: a minor human male.
• "Mother: a female parent.
• "Father: a male parent.”

In case anyone should seek to misunderstand these crisp definitions, the HHS added several more:

• “Sex: A person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.
• "Female: is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).
• "Male: is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.”

These definitions stand in stark contrast with the actions of the Biden administration HHS, which in May 2024 redefined “sex” in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to include gender identity. Multiple federal judges issued preliminary injunctions blocking that rule.

Along with this announcement, the HHS Office on Women’s Health added a new section to their website focused on “Protecting Women and Children.” The web page prominently features a video made “in conjunction with today’s rollout,” said HHS, featuring former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, now a women’s sports advocate.

“The executive order ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ ensures the next generation of girls has a fair opportunity to compete with the safety, privacy, and equal opportunity they’re entitled to,” said Gaines.

Such close cooperation with advocates of women’s sports and safety also stands in stark contrast with the HHS under President Joe Biden. In 2022, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a biological male, and his then-Chief of Staff Sarah Boateng lobbied the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove age minimums for gender transition procedures from its upcoming guidelines to avoid a political backlash in conservative-leaning states.

A 2021 draft version of WPATH’s “Standards of Care,” Eighth Edition (SOC-8), recommended a minimum age of 14 for cross-sex hormones, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies. In other words, it recommended that all gender transition hormones and surgeries be provided to at least some minors. In the final version of SOC-8, issued after the Biden administration HHS lobbied WPATH, the minimum age recommendations were removed entirely.

HHS issued this biology-based guidance on the definition of male and female one week after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 13.

In his opening speech to HHS staff, Kennedy pledged “a new era of radical transparency” and open-mindedness at the agency. This also contrasts with the HHS’s secret lobbying of WPATH under President Biden, which was only discovered years later during a lawsuit.

“I’m not going to come in here and impose my belief over any of yours. Instead, we’re going to work together to launch a new era of radical transparency,” Kennedy promised. “Only through radical transparency can we provide Americans with genuine informed consent, which is bedrock and the foundation stone of democracy. … We will make our data and our policy process so transparent that people won’t even have to file a FOIA request.”

Before his confirmation, Kennedy faced concerns from some Republican senators over his previous support for abortion. Kennedy assuaged their concerns by making pro-life commitments, as well as promising, “I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’m going to implement his policies.”

“This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” Kennedy declared. “The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.