{"id":523655,"date":"2026-06-07T21:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T21:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523655\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T21:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T21:30:16","slug":"erasing-women-anger-as-leaving-cert-asks-re-pregnant-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523655\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasing women? Anger as Leaving Cert asks re ‘pregnant person’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Political representatives and women\u2019s groups have been sharply critical of the decision to use the \u201cmeaningless\u201d phrase \u2018pregnant person\u2019 instead of woman in a Leaving Certificate paper this week \u2013 with one Senator describing it as \u201cinsulting\u201d to women.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the State Examinations Commission insisted the \u201cumbrella term\u201d used in the paper \u2013 \u201cpregnant person\u201d \u2013 was \u201crespectful and inclusive\u201d \u2013 and said it made the question \u201cinclusive and accessible\u201d to the cohort sitting the Leaving Cert exam.<\/p>\n

The Leaving Certificate Applied Social Education paper<\/a> told students: \u201cTo protect the health of an unborn baby, the pregnant person needs to take good care of their own health.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Amongst the questions then asked of the Leaving Cert student are: \u201cBesides taking folic acid, describe two positive lifestyle changes a pregnant person should make to protect the unborn child\u201d and \u201cOther than the Health Service Executive (HSE), name one agency that supports people experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

At no stage is the word \u2018woman\u2019 or \u2018women\u2019 used in the Social Education paper. Critics say this is a further attempt to \u201cerase\u201d women.<\/p>\n

Aont\u00fa Senator, Sarah O\u2019Reilly highlighted the \u201cpregnant person\u201d reference on the Leaving Cert paper after being alerted to it by a concerned teacher who had seen Senator O\u2019Reilly in a viral clip asking Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh: \u201cCan men get pregnant?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Senator O\u2019Reilly said she asked Maria Walsh the direct question in the Seanad last week, after Walsh had abstained on a vote on an amendment in the European parliament that stated \u201conly biological women can get pregnant\u201d.<\/p>\n

The teacher who contacted Senator O\u2019Reilly said she wanted to raise the issue of the exam paper because: \u201cThings are starting to go a bit far. The rights and dignity of biological women are being impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

BRINGING CULTURE WARS INTO CLASSROOM\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senator O\u2019Reilly said: \u201cThis is bringing culture wars into the classroom of young adults. It\u2019s telling students about to go out in the world to ignore 50% of the population and instead reduce them to \u201cpersons\u201d.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the question \u201cis insulting to women who have wombs and give birth and I don\u2019t understand why they are doing this. Can someone answer why? On who\u2019s behalf? With who\u2019s consent? Does the Minister for Education know and approve of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt normalises this kind of nonsense language that seeks to erase the existence of women,\u201d she added.\u00a0\u201cI am proud to be a woman and all the language there is around being a woman. They are our words.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly women can have babies. Can we not say pregnant women now? Someone came up with this and signed off on it. It\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation ministers recently have been very weak and woke on this stuff in education. They\u2019re afraid to upset a certain demographic of people. They\u2019d rather upset thousands of parents who don\u2019t agree with any of this. It\u2019s gender ideology, it\u2019s indoctrination and school and the leaving cert is not the place for it,\u201d the Aont\u00fa Senator said.<\/p>\n

Councillor Emer T\u00f3ib\u00edn agreed saying: \u201cThe powers that be are eroding trust and confidence at every turn. This now in a state exam! It is terrible to see people who know better, blindly do what they are told. People, stand up!\u201d<\/p>\n

While, women\u2019s rights campaigners The Countess said: \u201cA State exam paper now erases women and uses a generic term \u201cpregnant people!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince when did the word woman become so difficult to say or write? Is it regarded as some form of hate speech? Are women now reduced to meaningless terms and insults?\u00a0These words belong to us \u2013 Mother, Grandmother, Woman, Girl, Sister, Aunt. Women will not be erased in language or in law!,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cThe Government has not learned the lesson from the failed referendum when they tried to erase women from the constitution.\u00a0The public responded with a resounding NO! So who is driving this ridiculous agenda? It\u2019s not wanted by the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also referring to the referendum, Jana Lunden of the Natural Women\u2019s Council said \u201cthe Irish people overwhelmingly rejected the Government\u2019s attempt to remove the words \u201cwoman\u201d and \u201cmother\u201d from Bunreacht na h\u00c9ireann, with nearly 75% voting No.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYet now we see the term \u201cpregnant person\u201d appearing in an Irish exam paper. This is another example of how classrooms and academia have been captured by woke ideology and critical social justice activism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMen cannot be pregnant. People are not pregnant. Women are pregnant. Refusing to use the word \u201cwoman\u201d is an attempt to erase women and mothers from public life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish people have already rejected this ideology. Our education system should respect biological reality and the democratic will of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator O\u2019Reilly said it would be foolish of the government \u201cto underestimate the depth of feeling ordinary women have on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not wish to see words like woman, girl, mother, motherhood, and pregnant women removed from arms of the state, communications or society in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe transgender people should have the right to live their lives as they believe they should and not be subjected to discrimination.\u00a0\u201cBut the rights of women should not be side-lined for the sake of a small minority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the first councillor in Ireland to stand firm to prevent women being written out of the Work Life Balance Bill, which sought to reduce \u2018women\u2019 to \u2018persons\u2019 in relation to maternity protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is dehumanising and removes out identity. Women have fought too hard for too long to allow our rights be taken away from us for fear of offending others, in the name of inclusion,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Contacted by the Irish Daily Mail, the State Examinations Commission insisted the \u201cuse of the umbrella term \u2018pregnant person\u2019 was designed to be respectful and inclusive\u201d \u2013 and said it made the question \u201cinclusive and accessible\u201d to the cohort sitting the Leaving Cert exam.<\/p>\n

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