GAINESVILLE, Florida, December 6, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Dozens of academics and a coalition of medical, legal and policy organizations representing more than 30,000 health professionals nationwide praised the Trump administration for its efforts to officially uphold the scientific definition of sex on the federal level.

“We applaud the Trump administration's intention to uphold the scientific definition of sex in federal law and policy, such that girls and women will regain their sex-based legal protections, and the human rights of all will be preserved,” the group said in a December 4 letter.

Citing controversial Obama-era impositions of gender ideology into federal policy, the group stated, “Not only is an expanded definition of sex unscientific, but it has also proven harmful.”

The American College of Pediatricians, the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, and the Catholic Medical Association sent the letter, which was also endorsed by 32 legal organizations, policy groups and individuals, including physicians, therapists, academics and bioethicists.

The coalition has also established a petition to uphold the scientific definition of sex in federal law and policy.

Both the letter and the petition are addressed to Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The groups referenced three things as basis for commending the Trump administration for defending the scientific definition of sex at the federal level.

First was the February 2017 rescinding by the Departments of Justice and Education of the unprecedented “guidance” imposed in May 2016 by the Obama administration to expand the definition of sex in Title IX to include gender identity.

Second was the Department of Justice October 2017 clarification that gender identity is not legally included in the definition of sex related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

And most recently was the leaked memo in October from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that expressed the scientific definition of sex and called on government agencies to adopt a clear, uniform definition based “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.”

“Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the memo stated, and “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

The coalition writing the Trump administration said the memo “leads us to believe that HHS is continuing this trend and leading an effort to have a uniform, scientifically based, definition of sex across the various agencies.”

“We write to applaud and encourage this effort,” the group stated.

In February 2016, the Obama administration issued “guidance” to all public schools that they should allow members of one biological sex to use the showers, locker rooms, and restrooms, and also stay in the same hotel rooms during field trips as member of the opposite sex or risk losing federal funding.

Obama had also moved in 2014 to include gender identity in the legal definition of sex for the purpose of federal Title IX civil rights.

The December 4 letter to the Trump administration went on to detail specifics of how an expanded definition of gender is both dangerous and not informed about science. Citing medical references, the coalition explained that:

Sex is a narrowly defined biological term;

Human sex is a binary, biologically determined, and immutable trait from conception forward;

Sex differences are real and consequential;

Individuals who identify as transgender deserve optimal medical treatment that is influenced by biological sex;

Sex is not a spectrum; congenital disorders are not additional sexes;

Gender identity is not an immutable trait found anywhere in the body, brain, or DNA;

The claim that upholding the scientific definition of sex will increase suicide among transgender identifying people is false;

Upholding the scientific definition of sex in law and policy protects everyone's right to privacy, protection and equal treatment, especially that of girls and women;

As the biological men and women they are, transgender-identified individuals possess the same human dignity and right to the equal protection of the law as all Americans.

“For all of these reasons, it is with unwavering conviction that we urge the Trump administration to uphold the original scientific meaning and legal intent of the term ‘sex’ in federal law and policy.”

The letter can be found HERE. To sign the petition, click HERE.