More Health Care Bill Insanity: Government to Define Gender

Are you a man or a woman? Don't worry. . . the government will tell you.

From CNSNews:

"The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s health care legislation will give the Health and Human Services secretary the authority to develop “standards of measuring gender” -- as opposed to using the traditional "male" and "female" categories -- in a database of all who apply or participate in government-run or government-supported health care plans."

Here's the text in question, from the Senate's bill, with our emphasis:

‘‘(2) COLLECTION STANDARDS.—In collecting data described in paragraph (1), the Secretary or designee shall—
‘‘(A) use Office of Management and Budget standards, at a minimum, for race and ethnicity measures;
‘‘(B) develop standards for the measurement of gender, geographic location, socioeconomic status, primary language and disbility measures;...

This reminded me of a passage from the recent (July 15) essay by Anglican Bishop Tom Wright, of Durham, England:

"It is a very recent innovation to consider sexual preferences as a marker of “identity” parallel to, say, being male or female, English or African, rich or poor. Within the “gay community” much postmodern reflection has turned away from “identity” as a modernist fiction. We simply “construct” ourselves from day to day."

Yep. Poor Secretary Sebelius is way behind the postmodern curve. Who is she, or her successors, to develop "standards" for the measurement of "gender"? Won't that be just one more mode of oppression?

Perhaps it would be more sensible for us to just stay men and women.