Prison chiefs have sparked fury after scrubbing “women” from its new maternity policy, despite the landmark Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex as biological sex.
The decision handed down last year was widely interpreted as reinforcing the use of clear sex-based definitions across legislation, public policy and official guidance.
Scottish Prison Service (SPS) bosses are said to be ignoring the judgement after again erasing references to “women” from its revised policy on maternity rights.
Critics say pregnancy and childbirth are sex-specific realities rooted in biology, regardless of gender-neutral terminology in official policies which, it is argued, seeks to contradict biological fact.
Lacing the policy with gender-neutral language effectively “writes women out of their own maternity rights”.
SPS say gender-neutral terminology continues to be used throughout the policy “as far as possible” in order to be “inclusive of all families”.
The policy refers to “expectant employees”, “employees who are breastfeeding” and facilities for “employees to express milk”.
It also refers to “employees who have stillbirths” – phrasing critics condemn as “deeply offensive” for denying women explicit recognition after traumatic loss.
Elsewhere, the document repeatedly uses gender-neutral language, including a glossary definition explaining a “birth parent” is “the parent who gave birth to the baby”.
Campaigners say it underlines how deeply gender ideology has become embedded within parts of Scotland’s public sector, accusing officials of tying themselves in linguistic knots to avoid using the words “woman” and “mother” even in the context of maternity.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “Women across Scotland will be rightly alarmed that the Scottish Prison Service is continuing to erase mothers and women from maternity protections through this kind of absurd gender-neutral language.
“The Supreme Court ruling was crystal clear that sex in law relates to biological reality, yet public bodies are still bending over backwards to appease SNP-backed gender ideology.
“Referring to mothers as ‘birth parents’ and women who suffer stillbirths as simply ’employees’ is deeply insensitive and strips away the dignity and recognition women deserve.
“The SNP must stop obsessing over ideological language and start standing up for women’s rights, safety and dignity in Scotland’s prisons and public services.”
Fiona McAnena, director of advocacy at sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, slammed the policy as an “insult to all women”.
She said: “In policy after policy, for staff and for prisoners, the SPS has disgraced itself by centering demands from trans activists at the expense of sex-based rights, sometimes with devastating consequences.
“Only women can be pregnant, deliver a baby and breastfeed, and the SPS insults all women by pretending otherwise.
“It’s not ‘inclusive’ to use language that erases the term ‘mother’, and referring to mothers who have experienced stillbirth as simply ’employees’ is particularly offensive.”
The Women’s Rights Network Scotland (WRNS) branded the policy “dehumanising”.
Spokeswoman Mary Howden said: “Women have been linguistically erased… in the very document meant to address pregnancy and childbirth.
“Most despicably, even in the harrowing section on stillbirth – where an employee ‘loses their child after the end of the 24th week of pregnancy’ – the policy strips mothers of the recognition of their unique, sexed grief.
“A woman enduring the profound trauma of stillbirth is denied the basic dignity of being acknowledged as a mother who has lost her baby.
“This is institutional cruelty masquerading as inclusion. This robs women of their language at the precise moment they need it most.
“This is not progress – it is the dehumanising triumph of ideology over biology.”
SPS has faced sustained backlash over its controversial transgender prisoner policy, including criticism over allowing biological males convicted of murder, rape and child sex offences to swap into the female estate.
It culminated in a major outcry when Isla Bryson, a biological male convicted of raping two women, was initially placed in a female prison before being transferred to a male prison amid the fallout.
Burly, tattooed Adam Graham had transitioned while awaiting trial for two rapes and was jailed for eight years in 2023, by then known as Isla Bryson.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This is an operational matter for the Scottish Prison Service.”
An SPS spokesperson said: “The SPS Maternity and Parenting policy has been developed in partnership with our trade union partners and has undergone an Equality & Human Rights Impact Assessment.
“The policy applies to all staff who are entitled to maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave.”
