Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has proposed House Study Bill 649. The bill is called “The Woman’s Bill of Rights.”
Here are the definitions in the bill that are being resisted by Iowa House Democrats:
Sex: a person’s biological sex, either male or female, at birth
Female: a person whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova
Male: a person whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertile the ova of a female.
Woman/girl: female
Man/boy: male
Mother: a parent who is female
Father: a parent who is male
Also noted in the bill, the word “equal” does not mean “same” or “identical.” The bill also notes that separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.
The bill aims to elevate protections based on sex over protections based on someone’s alleged “gender identity” when it comes to prisons, detention centers, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms and other areas where health, safety or privacy are implicated resulting in separate accommodations are substantially important government objectives of protecting the health, safety and privacy of persons in such context.
Iowa House Democrats have requested a public hearing on the bill after they all voted against it in the Iowa House Education Committee.
