SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced he is filing motions to intervene in cases where an Indiana trial court has ordered the Indiana Department of Health to change the designation of sex on birth certificates to reflect preferred gender identities.

“We’re taking a stand not only for the rule of law but also for common sense,” Rokita said. “Indiana law requires birth certificates to reflect the historical, immutable fact of a child’s sex. One should have no more ability to change the listed sex on a birth certificate years after the fact than to change the newborn’s listed length or weight.”

Rokita says there have been dozens of instances where trial courts have ordered IDOH to change the historical record of a newborn’s sex.

Rokita also says the state was not made a party to any of these cases. Rokita adds the state has a clear interest in protecting the integrity of its own processes of issuing birth certificates.

Rokita also referred to Governor Mike Braun's executive order instructing state agencies to interpret and apply “sex” to mean “an individual human being’s immutable biological classification as either male or female” as determined at conception.

Rokita also stated changing birth certificates for desired genders is falsifying records.