Pennsylvania governor rewrites health codes to exclude ‘mothers,’ include transgender ‘postpartum individuals’
The Keystone State Democrat’s latest move undermines his image as a moderate, which analysts predict could damage his chances at a potential 2028 presidential contender.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is working to revise the state’s health codes to remove references to mothers who have just given birth, instead using the term “postpartum individual.” While Shapiro brands himself a moderate Democrat, political analysts warn that the efforts reveal the governor as a radical.
According to an investigation by Megan Brock of the Daily Wire, Shapiro unveiled a more-than-500-page proposal to Pennsylvania’s health code, gutting references to mothers and pregnant women. In one example, women who have suffered a stillbirth will not be referred to as “mothers” but as “postpartum individuals.”
Shapiro has long been a vocal supporter of transgenderism, both during his tenure as Pennsylvania’s attorney general and throughout his term in the governor’s office. In 2017, while serving as attorney general, Shapiro joined other Democratic attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep transgender-identifying individuals from serving in the U.S. military.
The governor later boasted, “This ban was nothing more than cruel. It had no purpose other than discriminating against transgender Americans who wanted to serve their country. I sued against this ban back in 2017. I'll always stand up for our LGBTQ+ community …”
As attorney general, Shapiro also filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, arguing that the Christian owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop should not be permitted to cite his sincerely held religious beliefs in refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In another amicus brief, Shapiro backed Gavin Grimm, a biological male who sought to use the girls’ bathrooms at a Virginia high school. He further vowed to defend transgender-identifying individuals in their use of opposite-sex bathrooms throughout the commonwealth.
As attorney general, gubernatorial candidate, and governor, Shapiro has attended LGBT Pride events, criticized legislation to shield children from gender transitions, and defended allowing biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
When the second Trump administration took legal action against children’s hospitals subjecting children to gender transition procedures, Shapiro and his administration challenged the President’s access to hospital records.
Independence Law Center chief counsel Randall Wegner characterized Shapiro’s proposed LGBT-friendly revisions to the state’s health codes as a “triumph of ideology over biology.” He told the Daily Wire, “This change of language doesn’t reflect reality; it obscures it. It erases female identity as a stable category in favor of a fluid concept of gender. The Shapiro administration is so concerned with affirming transgender identity that it can no longer recognize the realities of biological sex. The department cannot pretend to fight dangerous diseases with its delusions about gender.”
While Shapiro is officially dedicated to his 2026 reelection campaign, he is widely considered a likely Democratic presidential candidate.
In 2024, almost immediately after then-president Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and was replaced by his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic presidential nominee, Shapiro was a finalist for the slot of Harris’ running mate. He was one of only three vetted candidates subjected to an interview process with Harris and her team (the others were Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was eventually chosen for the ticket) and the choice quickly narrowed to Shapiro and Walz.
While the Pennsylvania governor’s support for Israel eventually ruled him out for consideration, the Harris team appreciated the fact that Shapiro presented himself as a moderate and hoped that his image could help sway independent and undecided voters who were apprehensive over Harris’s own record and the Democratic Party’s increasingly vocal progressive wing.
In addition to his support for Israel, Many on the Harris team also considered Shapiro too ambitious for the position, concerned that he would not be content with anything other than the top job. The governor asked numerous pointed questions during his interview about the scope of his prospective role, the authority and share in decision-making that Harris’ vice president would be afforded, and even the vice presidential residence.
Harris wrote about the vetting and interview process in her memoir 107 Days, while Shapiro wrote of it in his own, Where We Keep the Light.
Recent polling has also consistently ranked Shapiro a strong contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries. An Aug. 26 McLaughlin and Associates survey placed Shapiro sixth in a hypothetical matchup of 20 high-profile Democrats. The Pennsylvania governor also scored sixth in a 21-candidate hypothetical contest offered in an Aug. 18 Echelon Insights poll.
While Democrats with nationwide name recognition — namely Harris, Kelly, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — generally score higher than Shapiro in polls, a significant reelection win in a crucial swing state could easily elevate his profile and boost his popularity.
Zeale News requested a comment from Shapiro’s office but had not received a response at the time of publication.
