reprinted with permission of IPR- Indiana Policy Review
Indiana's Definition of Men, Women
The binary of male and female is not bigotry. It is the observable, genetically grounded structure of human reproduction and development.
by Dan Eichenberger M.D.
To prevent the further erosion of ordered society, Indiana must take a clear and permanent stand against the Left's campaign to detach law from biological reality. Activists have spent years pressuring institutions to replace objective sex with subjective "gender identity." The General Assembly and voters should amend the state Constitution to codify objective, scientifically grounded definitions of "man" and "woman." Statutory efforts are welcome but remain vulnerable to reinterpretation or reversal by future political pressure. Constitutional language provides the durability our legal and social institutions require.
When the law fails to define sex, confusion spreads wherever sex distinctions matter: athletics, medicine, prisons, schools, shelters and child protection. Policies based on self-identification have produced documented harm, including biological males placed in female facilities, unfair competition in women’s sports and medical records obscuring critical biological information.
These issues arise from substituting ideology for biology. Most Americans, including many Hoosiers, support retaining birth sex as the basis for legal categories like identification and athletics. Public policy should reflect these commonsense views rather than the demands of a narrow activist movement.
Indiana can anchor its law in reproductive biology. Human sex is defined by the role an organism is organized to perform in reproduction, specifically the production of one of two gametes: eggs or sperm. There is no third gamete and no continuum of sex categories.Woman: An adult human organized around the production, storage and delivery of eggs and the capacity for gestation.
Man: An adult human organized around the production and delivery of sperm.
These definitions describe developmental pathways set from conception and observable throughout life. Sex is not arbitrarily assigned or socially constructed; it reflects biological organization.
It is commonly said that XX equals female and XY equals male. While usually accurate, this framing is incomplete. Chromosomes are indicators, but genes ultimately determine sexual development.
The SRY gene (typically located on the Y chromosome) initiates male development by triggering the formation of testes, hormone production, and male anatomy. When SRY is absent or nonfunctional, development proceeds along the female pathway.
Rare genetic conditions illustrate this principle:XX male (De la Chapelle syndrome): SRY is present on an X chromosome, leading to male development.
XY female (Swyer syndrome): SRY is absent or inactive, resulting in female development.
These conditions do not create additional sexes; they are exceptions within the same binary framework. Individuals with atypical chromosomes (such as XXY or XYY) still develop along male or female pathways. Disorders of sex development (DSDs) are medical conditions requiring accurate diagnosis: not evidence that sex is a spectrum.
For rare situations where sex classification is unclear or challenged, Indiana can adopt a consistent, evidencebased process:Phenotypic assessment: Evaluate external anatomy and, if necessary, internal reproductive structures using ultrasound or other techniques.
Genetic analysis: Conduct chromosomal testing and confirm the presence and function of key genes such as SRY.
This approach addresses complexity without abandoning biological reality. It ensures individuals receive appropriate care while maintaining coherent legal categories.
Indiana's recent legislative efforts correctly advanced statutory definitions that tie sex to biological characteristics at birth (gametes, anatomy, and hormones oriented toward reproduction) while rejecting subjective identity as a legal category. I was honored to provide input on a Senate measure and to work with our legislators on this critical issue. These steps represent meaningful progress.
However, statutes can be amended by simple majorities, reinterpreted by state agencies or overturned by courts responding to cultural or political shifts. Activists have shown they will continue pressing until they succeed. A constitutional amendment requires broader consensus and raises the bar for any future reversal. It places biological reality into the state's foundational document alongside protections for life, liberty and property. It sends a clear message: Indiana will not surrender the meaning of "man" and "woman" to ideological pressure or activist redefinition.
Clear constitutional definitions provide practical protections that affect daily life:Fairness in sports: Female athletes retain meaningful competition and scholarship opportunities instead of losing them to biological males.
Safety in single-sex spaces: Prisons, shelters and facilities can maintain sex-based policies grounded in objective biology rather than self-declaration, preventing the documented harms seen in other states.
Medical accuracy: Healthcare providers keep clear biological data for screening, treatment, drug dosing and research, unobscured by ideological terminology that can confuse care.
Protection for children: Policy reinforces that sex is observed at birth based on biology, not arbitrarily assigned. This helps counter social and medical transition pressures on minors.
Legal and linguistic stability: Ends compelled speech, reduces endless litigation over basic categories, and stops the administrative chaos of constantly shifting definitions driven by political trends.
The Indiana General Assembly should propose a constitutional amendment stating that for all purposes under state law:
• "Woman" and "man" carry the biological meanings defined above;
• Sex is binary; and
• Any determination of sex in ambiguous cases shall follow the phenotypic and genetic protocol described.
The amendment should further specify that these categories exist independent of an individual's psychological, behavioral, social or subjective experience.
This language is precise, defensible and faithful to both science and reality. It avoids the strategic error of resting the entire case on chromosomes alone while still providing an objective, testable standard that resists efforts to blur every distinction. Claims that “trans women” or “trans men” represent new biological or ontological categories have no basis in science. A biological male who identifies as a woman remains biologically male, and vice versa. Better terminology would be a feminized male or masculinized female. Gender identity does not alter fundamental reproductive biology or developmental ontology.
Indiana has a genuine opportunity to lead. By codifying these definitions, we affirm that law must track biological reality rather than reshape it to accommodate ideological demands from gender activists. We protect women's hard-won sex-based rights, ensure fairness for female athletes, maintain safety in vulnerable spaces, and preserve medical integrity. Most importantly, we refuse to lie to children about the nature of their own bodies.
The binary of male and female is not bigotry. It is the observable, genetically grounded structure of human reproduction and development. The campaign to portray it as optional or oppressive is an attack on truth itself. Codifying biological reality is not cruelty: it is the basic responsibility of a self-governing people who value truth, fairness and the well-being of future generations.
The time to act is now. Indiana's constitution should reflect biological reality, not transient cultural fashion pushed by activists. Our children, our women, and the integrity of our institutions deserve nothing less.
Dan Eichenberger, M.D., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, is an Indiana native with 30 years experience as a primary care physician, physician executive and healthcare consultant. He is the recipient of the Indiana University Southeast Chancellors Medallion.
The Indiana Policy Review Foundation is a nonprofit education foundation focused on state and municipal issues. It is free of outside control by any individual, organization or group. It exists solely to conduct and distribute research on Indiana issues. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, or its board of directors. Nothing in this journal, whether in print or pixels, is an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill or influence the election of any candidate.
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Copyright © 2026 Indiana Policy Review Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this message because you subscribe to the journal or the web site.
Our mailing address is:
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PO Box 5166Fort Wayne, IN 46849
by Dan Eichenberger M.D.
To prevent the further erosion of ordered society, Indiana must take a clear and permanent stand against the Left's campaign to detach law from biological reality. Activists have spent years pressuring institutions to replace objective sex with subjective "gender identity." The General Assembly and voters should amend the state Constitution to codify objective, scientifically grounded definitions of "man" and "woman." Statutory efforts are welcome but remain vulnerable to reinterpretation or reversal by future political pressure. Constitutional language provides the durability our legal and social institutions require.
When the law fails to define sex, confusion spreads wherever sex distinctions matter: athletics, medicine, prisons, schools, shelters and child protection. Policies based on self-identification have produced documented harm, including biological males placed in female facilities, unfair competition in women’s sports and medical records obscuring critical biological information.
These issues arise from substituting ideology for biology. Most Americans, including many Hoosiers, support retaining birth sex as the basis for legal categories like identification and athletics. Public policy should reflect these commonsense views rather than the demands of a narrow activist movement.
Indiana can anchor its law in reproductive biology. Human sex is defined by the role an organism is organized to perform in reproduction, specifically the production of one of two gametes: eggs or sperm. There is no third gamete and no continuum of sex categories.Woman: An adult human organized around the production, storage and delivery of eggs and the capacity for gestation.
Man: An adult human organized around the production and delivery of sperm.
These definitions describe developmental pathways set from conception and observable throughout life. Sex is not arbitrarily assigned or socially constructed; it reflects biological organization.
It is commonly said that XX equals female and XY equals male. While usually accurate, this framing is incomplete. Chromosomes are indicators, but genes ultimately determine sexual development.
The SRY gene (typically located on the Y chromosome) initiates male development by triggering the formation of testes, hormone production, and male anatomy. When SRY is absent or nonfunctional, development proceeds along the female pathway.
Rare genetic conditions illustrate this principle:XX male (De la Chapelle syndrome): SRY is present on an X chromosome, leading to male development.
XY female (Swyer syndrome): SRY is absent or inactive, resulting in female development.
These conditions do not create additional sexes; they are exceptions within the same binary framework. Individuals with atypical chromosomes (such as XXY or XYY) still develop along male or female pathways. Disorders of sex development (DSDs) are medical conditions requiring accurate diagnosis: not evidence that sex is a spectrum.
For rare situations where sex classification is unclear or challenged, Indiana can adopt a consistent, evidencebased process:Phenotypic assessment: Evaluate external anatomy and, if necessary, internal reproductive structures using ultrasound or other techniques.
Genetic analysis: Conduct chromosomal testing and confirm the presence and function of key genes such as SRY.
This approach addresses complexity without abandoning biological reality. It ensures individuals receive appropriate care while maintaining coherent legal categories.
Indiana's recent legislative efforts correctly advanced statutory definitions that tie sex to biological characteristics at birth (gametes, anatomy, and hormones oriented toward reproduction) while rejecting subjective identity as a legal category. I was honored to provide input on a Senate measure and to work with our legislators on this critical issue. These steps represent meaningful progress.
However, statutes can be amended by simple majorities, reinterpreted by state agencies or overturned by courts responding to cultural or political shifts. Activists have shown they will continue pressing until they succeed. A constitutional amendment requires broader consensus and raises the bar for any future reversal. It places biological reality into the state's foundational document alongside protections for life, liberty and property. It sends a clear message: Indiana will not surrender the meaning of "man" and "woman" to ideological pressure or activist redefinition.
Clear constitutional definitions provide practical protections that affect daily life:Fairness in sports: Female athletes retain meaningful competition and scholarship opportunities instead of losing them to biological males.
Safety in single-sex spaces: Prisons, shelters and facilities can maintain sex-based policies grounded in objective biology rather than self-declaration, preventing the documented harms seen in other states.
Medical accuracy: Healthcare providers keep clear biological data for screening, treatment, drug dosing and research, unobscured by ideological terminology that can confuse care.
Protection for children: Policy reinforces that sex is observed at birth based on biology, not arbitrarily assigned. This helps counter social and medical transition pressures on minors.
Legal and linguistic stability: Ends compelled speech, reduces endless litigation over basic categories, and stops the administrative chaos of constantly shifting definitions driven by political trends.
The Indiana General Assembly should propose a constitutional amendment stating that for all purposes under state law:
• "Woman" and "man" carry the biological meanings defined above;
• Sex is binary; and
• Any determination of sex in ambiguous cases shall follow the phenotypic and genetic protocol described.
The amendment should further specify that these categories exist independent of an individual's psychological, behavioral, social or subjective experience.
This language is precise, defensible and faithful to both science and reality. It avoids the strategic error of resting the entire case on chromosomes alone while still providing an objective, testable standard that resists efforts to blur every distinction. Claims that “trans women” or “trans men” represent new biological or ontological categories have no basis in science. A biological male who identifies as a woman remains biologically male, and vice versa. Better terminology would be a feminized male or masculinized female. Gender identity does not alter fundamental reproductive biology or developmental ontology.
Indiana has a genuine opportunity to lead. By codifying these definitions, we affirm that law must track biological reality rather than reshape it to accommodate ideological demands from gender activists. We protect women's hard-won sex-based rights, ensure fairness for female athletes, maintain safety in vulnerable spaces, and preserve medical integrity. Most importantly, we refuse to lie to children about the nature of their own bodies.
The binary of male and female is not bigotry. It is the observable, genetically grounded structure of human reproduction and development. The campaign to portray it as optional or oppressive is an attack on truth itself. Codifying biological reality is not cruelty: it is the basic responsibility of a self-governing people who value truth, fairness and the well-being of future generations.
The time to act is now. Indiana's constitution should reflect biological reality, not transient cultural fashion pushed by activists. Our children, our women, and the integrity of our institutions deserve nothing less.
Dan Eichenberger, M.D., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, is an Indiana native with 30 years experience as a primary care physician, physician executive and healthcare consultant. He is the recipient of the Indiana University Southeast Chancellors Medallion.
The Indiana Policy Review Foundation is a nonprofit education foundation focused on state and municipal issues. It is free of outside control by any individual, organization or group. It exists solely to conduct and distribute research on Indiana issues. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, or its board of directors. Nothing in this journal, whether in print or pixels, is an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill or influence the election of any candidate.
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Copyright © 2026 Indiana Policy Review Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this message because you subscribe to the journal or the web site.
Our mailing address is:
Indiana Policy Review Foundation
PO Box 5166Fort Wayne, IN 46849
