What is a woman? Just coming up with a simple definition initially confounded then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins when put to him in 2023 at a post-Cabinet press conference.
Luckily, the UK Supreme Court had no such difficulty in a ruling out thisweek.
The group For Women Scotland initially took the Scottish Government to court, arguing that trans women should not be included in quotas designed to increase the proportion of women on government agency boards to 50%.
The Scottish Government had amended its guidance to say that only trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) met the definition of a woman under the Equality Act of 2010, and could therefore be included in the quotas.
The matter finally went to the UK Supreme Court, where five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold GRCs.
Inevitably, there have been calls from British trans activists to rewrite the act. Their concern is that trans people could be barred from women’s spaces such as toilets, hospital wards, prisons and domestic abuse refuges and crisis centres.
Fortuitously for Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, the UK judgment arrived in the very week when she has faced criticism for asking Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora to say “women” instead of “pregnant people” in communications on health issues.
Casey Costello. Photo / Mike Scott
Costello directed the agency to use “clear language” in a communication to interim chief executive Dr Dale Bramley on March 27.
“Recent documents that have reached my office from the Ministry of Health have referred to women as ‘pregnant people’, ‘people with a cervix’ or ‘individuals capable of childbearing’,” she said in the letter.
“Only women and people of the female sex can get pregnant and birth a child, no matter how they identify.”
“It is important that we have clarity about the people we are referring to when talking about women’s health. Sex-specific language ensures that women know what health services they are entitled to and can access these easily, especially for those women with English as a second language.”
“Clear language should be used in all documents and communications that refer to health issues specific to females.”
It’s extraordinary that it has taken a ministerial directive in 2025 to get Health New Zealand to change its policies so the word “women” is not scrubbed out in favour of “people”.
Anyone doing just rudimentary research on Health NZ’s website will quickly find that biological “men” are accorded appropriate name recognition. For instance, in references to prostate cancer website viewers are pointed to tools “to help men” understand more about prostate cancer and to decide if they should see their doctor to get tested.
The UK ruling is a victory for the female campaigners, including writer J.K. Rowling, who has long stood up against bullying and attempts to cancel her.
Susan Smith, the co-director of For Women Scotland, said: “Everybody should be protected by the Equality Act.”
“This is not about prejudice or bigotry, as some people would say, it’s not about hatred for another community. It’s just about saying that there are differences, and biology is one of those differences, and we just need protections based on that.”
Certainly, that outcome is absolutely at the forefront of the mission by gender-critical feminists.
It’s a shift that New Zealand chief executives who belong to the Global Women’s Champions for Change offshoot need to take on board. Making sure staff can “take their whole selves to work” is well-established in New Zealand corporate HR departments.
But there is a tidal shift under way that suggests the views of women should be factored in. Some workplaces will embrace trans inclusion. Others may not and might prefer separate spaces for biological women, for instance.
As for Hipkins, he was still equivocating when asked about Costello’s directive. He was surprised this was taking her time when there were more pressing issues in the health system.
He felt Cabinet ministers should not be involved in such matters.
