USA Today topped the recent comments by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson who said she couldn’t define gender because she wasn’t a biologist.
QUICK FACTS:
- USA Today contradicted Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson when they reported that even biologists couldn’t define gender.
- Jackson made headlines when she was asked to define gender but said she could not because she was “not a biologist.”
- According to the publication, scientists, gender law scholars, and philosophers of biology have said that Jackson’s response was “commendable.”
USA TODAY’S COMMENTS ON GENDER IDENTIFICATION:
- “Marsha Blackburn asked Ketanji Brown Jackson to define ‘woman.’ Science says there’s no simple answer,” USA Today reporter Alia E. Dastagir claimed, adding that even experts in science lack a “sufficient way to clearly define” what a woman is.
- “Scientists, gender law scholars and philosophers of biology said Jackson’s response was commendable, though perhaps misleading,” the author writes. “It’s useful, they say, that Jackson suggested science could help answer Blackburn’s question, but they note that a competent biologist would not be able to offer a definitive answer either.”
- “Scientists agree there is no sufficient way to clearly define what makes someone a woman, and with billions of women on the planet, there is much variation,” she added.
BACKGROUND:
- The line of questioning came from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) who was, according to The Tennessean, attempting to zero in on “her originalist’s concern” about Jackson.
- The Supreme Court nominee’s question and answer portion of the confirmation is now complete and the Senate Judicial Committee is expected to vote on April 4, Jurist.org notes.
