Manufactured Outrage and Scapegoating: The “Stillbirth Panic”

 

Manufactured Outrage and Scapegoating: The “Stillbirth Panic”

The recent controversy around trans inclusion in stillbirth discussions is a textbook case of manufactured outrage. It began with a single, cautious statement from Rebecca Graham of SA Health, who reassured a parliamentary committee that when she used the word “women,” this was intended to include transgender and intersex women. The purpose was simple: to avoid exclusion in policy language and ensure compassionate care for anyone affected.

From that one line, anti-trans commentators rolled the story downhill until it gathered moss. What began as a footnote about inclusive terminology was exaggerated into claims that trans women were “invading” pregnancy and miscarriage support groups. The result is a culture-war narrative: supposedly, “men who think they’re women” are trying to rewrite one of the most painful experiences a woman can endure.

There is no evidence for this. Trans women cannot conceive, and they are not turning up in miscarriage groups as participants. The people at stake are trans men and non-binary people, who can and do experience pregnancy loss but often struggle to access care in a system built only for cisgender women. Trans women may be present only as partners supporting a grieving mother — in exactly the same way cis men already are.

The outrage, then, is not based on fact but on distortion. A small act of compassion has been reframed as “peak misogyny.” This is not a new tactic. Like other forms of scapegoating throughout history, it works by:

  1. Selecting a vulnerable minority group.

  2. Attributing to them an exaggerated or fabricated “threat.”

  3. Distracting public anger away from deeper systemic problems.

The parallels with antisemitic propaganda in the 1930s are hard to miss. Then, Jewish communities were accused of undermining national life, corrupting culture, and threatening women and children. Now, trans people are cast in precisely the same role: blamed for erasing biology, destroying womanhood, and defiling grief itself.

Meanwhile, the real issues — austerity, inequality, political corruption, climate disaster, and contemporary war crimes — are pushed to the background. Scapegoating trans people is easier than confronting the failures of governments, corporations, and elites.

In short, the “stillbirth panic” is not about pregnancy loss at all. It is about using one of the most heartbreaking human experiences as a weapon in a culture war. Just as in the past, scapegoating serves to divide the public, deflect attention, and protect those truly responsible for injustice.

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