The terms “mother nature,” “lady justice,” and “mother tongue” convey a certain gendered innateness about them. In other words, they are feminizations of natural and social concepts. These terms, among many others, are used to signify nurturing and naturally occurring phenomena, paralleling the way motherhood has been constructed and reciprocated as innate to womanhood.

Panelists at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute discussed Title X, reproductive rights, and health care disparities in Massachusetts and the broader nation.