Military delays taking on transgender recruits

Defense Secretary James Mattis last Friday delayed the implementation of a policy allowing transgender individuals to enlist in the armed services. The deadline for the Obama-era rule to take effect was the following day, July 1.

“After consulting with the service chiefs and secretaries, I have determined that it is necessary to defer the start of accessions for six months,” Mattis said in a memo to the service chiefs and secretaries. He noted the delay will allow them more time to evaluate the impact of transgender recruits on military “readiness and lethality.” Mattis set a Dec. 1 deadline for the review.

Transgender service members have been allowed to serve openly in the military since June 2016, when then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter repealed the ban on transgender military service and signed a new policy regarding the service, recruitment, and medical treatment of transgender individuals. Since October, transgender troops have been able to receive medical care and to formally transition from one gender to another while in the military.

A 2016 study commissioned by the Pentagon and published by Rand Corporation estimated about 2,500 transgender service members are on active duty, with another 1,500 in the reserves.

But the new policy gave the armed forces until July 1, 2017, to implement a plan to allow people already identifying as transgender to join the military if they meet certain physical and medical standards and have been stable in their gender for 18 months.

Mattis said last week the military needs more time to consider the policy changes, but added the approval of a delay “does not presuppose the outcome of the review.”

Pro-LGBT groups lambasted the decision as discriminatory and counter-productive.

“Each day that passes without the policy in place restricts the armed forces’ ability to recruit the best and the brightest, regardless of gender identity,” said Stephen Peters, a Human Rights Campaign spokesman and Marine veteran.

But other experts say the Pentagon was “right to hit the brakes.”

“Personnel who identify as transgender are expected to receive exceptions to policies and medical requirements that their peers will still be required to meet,” said Retired Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council. “These exceptions may be applied to policies about everything from physical and mental fitness standards to dress and presentation standards, and they create an unfairness that will undermine unit cohesion and morale.”

Boykin also noted the policy change could mean billions of taxpayer dollars will go to transgender surgeries and treatment plans instead of military readiness.

Where have all the babies gone?

The birth rate in the United States declined to a record low in 2016, according to new data released by the National Center for Health Statistics. The general fertility rate was 62 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44, down 1 percent from 2015, the lowest U.S. birth rate on record.

U.S. women are delaying childbirth, and the data shows that shift.

Birth rates for women under 30 were the lowest on record. The teen birth rate (women aged 15 to 19) dropped by 9 percent in the last year, and the rate for women in their early and late 20s dropped by 4 and 2 percent respectively.

But birth rates rose 1 percent for women aged 30-34, 2 percent for women aged 35-39, and 4 percent for women aged 40-44, to the highest rates since 1966.

The number of babies born to unmarried couples dropped for the eighth year on record. In 2016, 39.7 percent of births were to unmarried women. The percentage across races varied widely—12 percent of Asian babies had unmarried parents, 28.4 percent of white babies, 52.5 percent of Hispanic babies, and 69.7 percent of African-American babies.

Since 1971, the U.S. fertility rate has generally been below replacement level, but the population is not declining.

“Yes, it’s below replacement level, but not dramatically so,” Brady Hamilton, the study’s lead author, told The New York Times. “We have a high level of influx of immigrants that compensates for it.” —K.C.

Ivanka argues for paid family leave

Some experts argue providing paid family leave is one way to encourage more stable, married adults to have children. Ivanka Trump agrees. She took to the Wall Street Journal editorial page this week to defend such policies.

“Providing a national guaranteed paid-leave program—with a reasonable time limit and benefit cap—isn’t an entitlement, it’s an investment in America’s working families,” Trump wrote.

President Donald Trump has made a federal paid family leave program a budget priority, but he has only modest support from Republicans. Many conservatives argue a mandated plan, funded through unemployment insurance, would be bad for businesses.

Last month, two major Washington, D.C., think tanks—one conservative and one left-leaning—released a plan they could agree on. —K.C.

Gender-free baby

Canadian officials recently issued a baby born in November a health card without a gender. The infant, Searyl Atli Doty, is believed to be the first baby issued a card marked “U,” presumably for “undetermined” or “unassigned.” Health cards in Canada allow a person access to the state-run medical system. Kori Doty, who identifies as a non-binary transgender, said her baby was born at home and therefore did not undergo a medical “genital inspection.” She refused to designate the infant either male or female. Officials initially declined to issue Searyl a card but finally agreed last month. Doty, part of the Gender Free I.D. Coalition, is now trying to obtain a genderless birth certificate for Searly. —K.C.

Divorce is bad for kids’ health

A new report reveals adults whose parents had a nasty divorce may be at an increased risk for illness. For the study, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers quarantined a group of adults and exposed them to the common cold virus. Participants whose parents divorced and stopped speaking while they were children were more than three times as likely to catch the virus, compared to adults whose parents stayed together or separated but stayed on good terms. —K.C.

No child care? Just freeze your eggs.

This summer Apple unveiled its new $5 billion headquarters: Apple Park. The state-of-the-art doughnut-shaped building is surrounded by 9,000 drought-resistant trees. And though the office dreamland includes a 100,000-square-foot gym, critics note it has no on-site child care. While the company doesn’t appear to value live children, it wants female employees to know it cares about their potential future prodigy: Apple pays for two rounds of egg freezing. —K.C.