News Outlets Criticized for Omitting “Pregnant Women” from Coverage, Opting for Gender-Neutral Terminology in Tylenol-Autism Story
A debate over language has emerged following President Donald Trump’s recent announcement on a potential link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism.
As major news outlets such as CNN, PBS News, and The Guardian published reports attempting to debunk these claims, they faced criticism for consistently using the term “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women,” a choice some have called an effort to appease pro-transgender sensibilities at the expense of biological accuracy.
The controversy began after Trump stated that studies indicated a link between acetaminophen use and early neurological disorders.
In response, several news organizations published articles challenging his claims, but in doing so, they almost entirely avoided the term “pregnant women,” a scientific and biological fact.
CNN’s article, titled “What pregnant people should know about acetaminophen,” used the term “women” only once while quoting a psychologist. The rest of the report, which aimed to reassure readers, exclusively used “pregnant people.”
The lede of the article read, “Pregnant people should not be afraid to take Tylenol, experts say, rebuking unproven claims made by the Trump administration that it can cause autism.”
“Pregnant people? When you run news tickers like this, it tells all of us that CNN marches to a different drummer (an anti-science drummer), which evidently causes you to invite guests on who pretend there is no science behind the Tylenol announcement when we know there is,” said PMCALL on X.
Similarly, PBS News and The Guardian adopted the same linguistic approach.
The PBS News piece, “Research doesn’t show using Tylenol during pregnancy causes autism. Here are 5 things to know,” used the term “pregnancy” but avoided referring to the sex of the individual. The Guardian’s article, “Trump’s Tylenol announcement incurs furious backlash: ‘This is yet more utter rubbish,'” also used “pregnant people” and even referred to quoted individuals as “pregnant readers” rather than “pregnant women.”
The use of this gender-neutral language has drawn sharp criticism from those who argue it denies the biological reality that only women can become pregnant. Critics suggest that in an effort to be inclusive, the media has opted for a term that is less precise and potentially confusing.
Bobby Trivett blasted CNN on X, “Pro-tip for@CNN: If you are trying to debunk misinformation, for the love of God, don’t start your sentence with pregnant people.”
While the linguistic debate rages on, the scientific community remains divided on the Tylenol-autism link. Some studies have shown a correlation, but a 2024 study published in the journal JAMA compared children exposed to acetaminophen with siblings who were not and found no association.
Despite the ongoing scientific discussion, the recent media coverage has shifted the focus from the scientific findings to a broader cultural debate about language and gender identity.
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