Bergstrom files bill tightening birth certificate gender requirements

Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, filed SB 1100 on Wednesday, which would require male and female to be the only options on birth certificates to identify a child’s sex at birth.

“I was assured by the State Department of Health a couple months ago that they had no intention of adding another sex option to birth certificates, but they recently approved a non-binary option,” Bergstrom said. “We’re at an odd time in history where people are seemingly forgetting science and biology and casting common sense out the window. When babies are born, they are either born male or female based on their chromosomes and genitals. Allowing anything else to be listed on a birth certificate is ludicrous, and it’s time we clarify this in our statutes.”

If passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the sex or gender designation on a birth certificate shall be either male or female, meaning nonbinary or any symbol representing a nonbinary designation, including, or not limited to the letter “X,” cannot be used on the birth certificate.

All measures for the upcoming legislative session must be filed by Thursday, Jan. 20. The Second Session of the 58^thLegislature will convene on Monday, Feb. 7 at noon.