The US Department of Health and Human Services is set to define gender “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable,” according to a leaked memo reported by the New York Times. The move would reverse a decision in the final months of the Obama administration that had radically redefined sex as grounded in a subjective sense of self as dictated by gender ideology. The new codification would be applied for the purposes of Title IX, a federal law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive federal financial assistance.

“In the last months of the Obama administration, federal bureaucrats unlawfully redefined the word ‘sex’ to mean ‘gender identity,’ and then imposed a radical bathroom and locker room policy on all our public schools, and said that doctors who declined to perform sex ‘reassignment’ procedures would be guilty of discrimination,” Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” told The Daily Signal.

“Thankfully, it appears that the Trump administration has rejected Obama’s transgender agenda and understands the word ‘sex’ correctly as a bodily reality,” Anderson said.

The memo reportedly says: “Sex means a person’s status as male or female, based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth. 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.”

Half of mothers with children aged one and older believe the State does not support motherhood, according to a new survey.

The study, from parenting forum everymum.ie, shows a clear desire for more societal support for motherhood – 69 per cent believe a more flexible work culture would support mothers. Over two-thirds agree that more access to affordable childcare would be of benefit to them.

Dr Sara O’Byrne, senior clinical psychologist, said the study highlights the complexity of the role of the mother and the multiples factors that are at play in terms of family, society and career.

“What this highlights is the emotional changes that coincide with this huge life event and the need for further supports in the community and within families.”

More than a quarter of mothers say balancing children and career is their biggest challenge, while 29 per cent agree motherhood is more emotionally challenging than they expected.

The study involved 3,700 mothers across the State who were surveyed online between August 25th and September 3rd.

Sydney’s Anglican church is reportedly set to debate a policy which would prohibit buildings owned by the diocese, including schools, from hosting same-sex wedding ceremonies and receptions, or to be used for lgbt advocacy or transgender ideology.

Chair of the diocese’s Religious Freedom Reference Group, Bishop Michael Stead, said the policy “consolidates and codifies” what has always been the practice.

“The principle is simple – churches should not be compelled to use their property for purposes contrary to their doctrine,” he told SBS News.

“Along with almost 40 per cent of the Australian population, we maintain the historic position that marriage is between a man and a woman and we also maintain that freedom of religion in Australia should allow us to use our property in accordance with this belief.”

The proposed policy specifies it would be inappropriate to use church-owned property for “advocacy for transgender ideology (e.g. gender-fluidity)” and “advocacy for expressions of human sexuality contrary to our doctrine of marriage”. It also bans local Anglican boards from allowing property – such as school halls – to host same-sex marriages or receptions associated with same-sex weddings.

Religious authorities should not be banished from engaging politically in the public square, said a prominent Church of Ireland Bishop.

Speaking at a civic service in Limerick on Sunday, Dr Paul Colton, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, said that the separation of Church and State did not mean “no religion in the public space”. It did not mean that religious bodies should stop engaging in national debate or conversation, formal or informal, with civic authorities or that they should not be engaged politically.

He said with many of the issues involving both parties “much of the discourse is bluntly, or simplistically driven by megaphone non-dialogue on social media.”

“There the cry goes up: ‘Get the churches out of it all; it’s none of their business.’ But that is not what separation of church and state means,” he said.

He specifically criticised the manner in which political change tends to occur in Ireland. “We tend, too often, to drift reactively into it. Typically, aggrieved people identify an injustice which they feel strongly, and they protest and pursue change: a good example is the issue of admissions to schools and religious patronage of schools,” he said.

He proposed that there needs to be structured dialogue between the government of the day and religious entities about issues of mutual interest, facilitated by the Department of the Taoiseach. This would, he said, strengthen the proper separation of Church and State.

Bishop Colton favoured the introduction of same-sex marriage in civil law and voted for repeal of the Eighth amendment.

The careful planning of a blunt challenge to Pope Francis by Minister Katherine Zappone that bypassed the Archbishop of Dublin and went beyond Government policy has been revealed through a freedom of information request by the Sunday Independent.

Ms Zappone was the Government representative who greeted Pope Francis at Aras an Uachtarain on August 25 at the start of his visit to Ireland. She wrote to her advisers on August 18 that she wanted to tell him about Tuam, ask for an apology and insist the Vatican share in costs to excavate and re-bury the babies and grant access crucial church documents.

“So, [the] message is – will he: offer [an] apology, share in costs, provide access to relevant information,” she told her advisers.

Ms Zappone asked if she should press the Pontiff for a response. It was suggested she learn the Italian for “Is that a ‘yes’, Pope Francis?” Her advisers warned that looking for a commitment on something not yet sanctioned by Government was “risky”. The minister asked what role Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin would have in her meeting with the Pontiff but advisers told her to focus on the Pope. “If there are issues with the Dublin Archbishop – then the Pope is his ‘boss’. We are going to the top,” said one adviser.

A Fianna Fáil TD has changed his mind about supporting abortion legislation going through the Oireachtas. Marc MacSharry had said after the referendum result that he would support the proposed legislation but he announced in the Dáil yesterday,“I am not sure that I can do so”.

His change of heart came “out of fear, quite frankly”. The Sligo-Leitrim TD said “I fear that this will become the contraceptive of choice for people down the line; not today, next week or even next year, but in time. Abortion will become something that is the norm rather than for the hard cases. That is a concern for me.”

The Minister for Health berated him in a scolding response from across the floor of the Dáil.  “Unfortunately some people talking about the issue in this House are using language that gives an insight to a mindset that is worrying”, said the Minister.

Such talk showed a “lack of understanding of the very difficult decision-making process a woman goes through before accessing termination. To equate in any way termination to contraception shows a fundamental lack of respect for women. It also shows a fundamental lack of understanding about termination and contraception.”

Meanwhile, another Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuív told the Minister he should correct the use of the term “pregnant woman” that appears in the Bill, because “we have various genders and transgender” and the term was out of line with other legislation.

Under 18s should not be able to self-define their gender, according to a major new poll in the UK.

The survey of over 2,000 people found that a majority believe young people under 18 should not have the legal power to self-identify their gender. Just one in five thought they should.

The poll also found just five per cent would be pleased if their child wanted to officially change their gender. Four in ten (42 per cent) would not.

Incredibly, the poll also revealed significant support for those who want to self-define their race (32 per cent), their age (19 per cent) and even their species (ten per cent). Among young people, these figures were higher in every category.

Responding to the figures, Coalition for Marriage Chairman, Colin Hart, said: “These results show that the public is deeply concerned at the Government’s obsession with pushing transgenderism on all. There is after all nothing progressive with children who are so ashamed of their bodies that they think they must change gender, something that has risen at an alarming rate in recent years.”

He added that people recognise that children need to be protected from unnecessary puberty blockers and genital surgery.

Children of separated parents are more likely than those from intact families to have problems with their health, education and emotional wellbeing at age 13, a new ESRI report says.

The report draws on data from the Growing Up In Ireland longitudinal study, based on interviews with more than 7,400 young people and their families when the children were 13 years old in 2012, and when they were nine years old in 2007/08. It exposes considerable differences in childhood experiences and outcomes depending on family background.

Children who were growing up in one-parent families and those who came from families with lower levels of maternal education, were more likely than others to be classified as being at risk of socio-emotional and behavioural problems. Specifically, the report says, ‘Parental separation between 9 and 13 years of age was associated with double the chance of the 13-year-old being classified as being at risk of socio-emotional and behavioural problems (21% compared to 10% of those not experiencing parental separation)’.

The report was launched on Wednesday.

The majority of women in Northern Ireland believe that Westminster should not impose abortion laws on the North, a new poll from ComRes has revealed.

The polling showed that 64% of the general population in Northern Ireland agree that changing the law on this issue should be a decision for the people of Northern Ireland and their elected representatives with an even stronger majority of women, 66%, reject interference from Westminster.

Dawn McAvoy, of the Both Lives Matter organisation in Northern Ireland, said a Labour Party sponsored bill in the House of Commons to decriminalise abortion in the North is an attempt to “override devolution in Northern Ireland and to impose abortion laws on the Northern Irish people”.

“This polling clearly shows that this is not what the people of Northern Ireland, and in particular women, want,” she said.

“100,000 people in Northern Ireland are alive today because Northern Ireland did not accept the same abortion law that was introduced into Britain in 1967. We urge British MPs to respect the people of Northern Ireland and our elected representatives.”