Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers defended his budget proposal replacing the word “mother” with “inseminated person” in state law, saying he was concerned about legal clarity on artificial insemination and accusing Republicans of “lying.”
“What the Republicans say is a lie, so of course I’m pretty PO’d,” Mr. Evers told reporters who questioned him Monday at the Marathon County Public Library in Wausau.
The Democrat Evers avoided specifics on the language changes, insisting that the revisions to the 2025-27 biennial budget proposal are designed to ensure that women undergoing in vitro fertilization receive appropriate medical care.
“All this does, it gives people a chance that are using IVF, which I think Republicans are kind of OK with that, have certain legal certainty about a mom being able to have a year’s worth of care. That’s it,” Mr. Evers said during the library interview. “I didn’t know that Republicans were against IVF, but apparently they are.”
Republicans accused him of insulting women as well as seeking to erase mothers and fathers with the gender-neutral substitutions, which he disputed.
“Moms are moms. Dads are dads. What we want is legal certainty that moms are able to get the care they need. That’s it. End of story,” Mr. Evers said. “You can count on this being something that the Republicans are becoming very good at, and that is lying.”
His budget proposal swaps out sex-specific terms with gender-neutral words, including “inseminated person” for “mother” or “parent” — or “natural parent” for father, and “person” for “wife.”
Wisconsin state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, a Republican mother of two, said Mr. Evers’ budget strikes and replaces the word “father” at least 120 times, and the word “mother” at least 30 times in the 1,917-page document.
“Where’s the lie, @GovEvers?” she asked on X. “It’s right there in your own budget. You are attempting to erase parents from state statute. If you believe moms are moms, and dads are dads, then there would be no need for this change. Apparently Evers believes dads can be moms too.”
The proposed revisions may be short-lived. The budget measure is before the Joint Committee on Finance in the state Legislature, where Republicans control both chambers.
This isn’t the first time Mr. Evers has sought to scrub sex-specific terms from the state code.
He proposed incorporating gender-neutral terms in his previous two budget requests, only to have the language removed in committee, according to Wisconsin Watch.
Mr. Evers, 73, is serving his second term as governor, but he could run for reelection in two years. Wisconsin has no term limit.
Republican businessman Eric Hovde, who lost his November Senate race against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin by less than 1%, hinted at a gubernatorial challenge.
“’Mother’ is probably one of the most important terms in all of human history, and you want to get rid of it?” asked Mr. Hovde in a video on X. “This guy is nuts. I think somebody’s got to replace Tony Evers. Hmm.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Evers accused Republicans of going on the offensive to improve their political prospects.
“First of all, it’s mainly Republicans looking for an advantage during a time when they’re under attack. That’s what I think,” Mr. Evers said. “That’s their problem, not mine. We’re working for the families of Wisconsin.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.