Well, the government certainly can’t tolerate anyone saying “baby.” So, Minnesota Democrats — as part of their full-scale culture war this legislative session — are trying to defund these centers. Their proposed bill would delete from existing Minnesota law the statement that “‘unborn child’ means a member of the species Homo sapiens from fertilization until birth,” remove the availability of funding to “provide each pregnant woman counseled with accurate information on the developmental characteristics of babies and of unborn children,” and add a requirement that recipients “not require a person to receive an ultrasound or counseling, view media, or participate in any other activities prior to or as a condition of receiving information, resources, or other services offered by the agency or organization” (we can’t have women seeing the baby, after all).

The bill will replace funding “for the reasonable expenses of alternatives to abortion programs to support, encourage, and assist women in carrying their pregnancies to term and caring for their babies after birth by providing information on, referral to, and assistance with securing necessary services that enable women to carry their pregnancies to term and care for their babies after birth” with funding “for the reasonable expenses of programs to support and assist pregnant people with their pregnancies, or new parents caring for their babies after birth, by providing information on, referral to, and assistance with securing necessary services.” Note the use of “pregnant people” — we wouldn’t want to say “women,” either.