The Scientist, May 8 Words matter, especially when they are used as labels to describe, characterise or classify a group of people. A change in the words used for these purposes merits asking what caused that change, who advocated for it, and why was it made. We are currently seeing a change from speaking of “pregnant women” to speaking of “pregnant persons”. What might this change signify? Is there any problem with speaking of “pregnant persons“, rather than “pregnant women” or should we welcome this development? Who or what is a person matters because personhood carries rights and protections. Therefore, might the change be intended to benefit pregnant women? On the other hand, might it be contemplating unprecedented possibilities opened up by new reproductive technologies and affirming, or perhaps even promoting, what the American law professor John Robertson called the individual person’s “absolute right to reproductive freedom”?