When seeking abortions, biological females who identify as transgender men face the additional hurdle of being misgendered by staff and medical workers who are accustomed to treating women, NPR reported Tuesday.
A pregnant person who identifies as male in medical paperwork may have their insurance provider decline to cover female-specific procedures or face confusion and probing questions from doctors who are under the impression that the patient is biologically male, according to NPR. This drives some transgender patients to simply identify as their birth sex, female, when seeking abortions, but patients who take this route can be exposed to the trauma of being misgendered.
Patients who use male names and pronouns when seeking abortions confuse health care workers, who ask insensitive questions about what the apparently male patient is doing at an abortion clinic, according to NPR. (RELATED: ‘Extensive Closures’ Of Abortion Clinics Undermine One Of Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Talking Points)
U.S. President Joe Biden greets people who stood on the stage behind him as he delivered remarks on abortion rights in a speech hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) at the Howard Theatre in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
“When someone shows up at an abortion clinic and they’re not your typical type of patient, then here we go being denied or here we go insensitive questions being asked. Why are you here? What do you need?” Sybastian Smith, a spokesman for the National Center for Transgender Equality, told NPR.
For trans patients who identify as female at the clinics to dodge these issues, the experience of being referred to as a woman can be painful, according to NPR, and medical professionals do not necessarily refer to patients by their preferred pronouns and name even if they request it.
“I put my name that I go by on my form. I put my pronouns. I put my gender identity. And I was called the wrong name and I was misgendered,” a transgender person who has undergone an abortion told the outlet. “And there was a trans flag hanging on the wall behind me. And I just, like, could not believe what was happening.”
NPR did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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