Outrage as SNP claims it's not just women who go through the menopause
Campaigners have said the Scottish Government is engaging in "fantasy" and not "reality".
Fury has greeted SNP ministers living in a "fantasy" after the nationalist authority issued guidance to NHS Scotland claiming "it's not just women" who experience symptoms from the menopause.
SNP leader Humza Yousaf's party has ordered every health board in the country to implement the controversial guidance, warning “transgender, non-binary and intersex employees may also experience menopause and menstrual health-related symptoms”.
The decree has been sent to local health bodies to steer them on how to help employees who might be suffering from symptoms of the hormonal change.
But the SNP and Scotland's First Minister have come under fire from campaigners.
Harry Potter author and women's rights and spaces advocate JK Rowling mocked a similar biological claim remarking on the wording "people who menstruate", to which she tongue-in-cheekily responded: "I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Commenting on this latest menopause guidance, Susan Smith, director of For Women Scotland, told the Mail on Sunday:"‘Once again, the truth is being twisted and contorted and the Scottish Government is trying to impose an anti-science ideology on the NHS.
"Clinicians must surely be aware that menopause is uniquely an experience belonging to the female sex. It is insulting and demeaning to women to pretend otherwise.
"It is laughable that the Government thinks that there are NHS employees who have forgotten what their biological sex is."
Ms Smith added the SNP and the NHS in Scotland should be "engaging with reality, not fantasy.”
Don't miss...
MP Mark Menzies resigns as police 'review letter' in Tory campaign funds case [REPORT ]
Football fans stunned after spotting Jonathan Van-Tam at match dressed as a nun [REVEAL ]
Earth-shaking dinosaur that's 'one of the biggest ever' discovered by scientists [SPOTLIGHT ]
The interim National Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy for NHS Scotland was sent to all Scottish health boards by the SNP government.
A cover letter supporting the guidance read: "By putting support in place for individuals experiencing menstruation or menopause transition and raising awareness within our organisations, we can help to support good menstrual health and create a more positive experience for colleagues."
Mr Yousaf has already been criticised for proposed legislation to outlaw misogyny, which it's claimed would cover transgender women who suffer misogynistic abuse.
The pledge to create a standalone Bill dealing with misogyny resulted in sex being left out of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, which came into force on April 1, sparking criticism.
The First Minister's comments sparked a backlash, including from JK Rowling, who suggested trans women would have "double protection" under the law.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the author accused the First Minister of showing "absolute contempt for women".
But responding to criticism on the same platform the next day, Mr Yousaf said: "The faux outrage claiming trans women have double protection under the law because of who they are is as ludicrous as being upset that a disabled, black woman has triple protection under the law.
"It in no way diminishes protection against misogyny for those who are born women."
