Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Tuesday signed into law the “Women’s Bill of Rights” which aims to “bring clarity, certainty, and uniformity” to state laws by defining the words “female” and “mother,” the Daily Caller reported.
The Republican governor was joined by members of the conservative Independent Women’s Forum as he signed the legislation, KOCO reported.
In a press conference marking the signing, Governor Stitt said the law is “another step” the state is taking in preserving “women’s spaces and opportunities.” He said while some refuse to “recognize” the biological distinction of womanhood, the state is “taking a stand” against the radical gender ideology.
State Senator Jessica Garvin, the sponsor of the Women’s Bill of Rights, told the Daily Caller earlier this year that the measure would keep men from “invading” women’s spaces.
The law prohibits men from using shelters, locker rooms, prisons, restrooms, and other spaces reserved for women. Men will also be barred from receiving government grants designated for women.
In the Women’s Bill of Rights, the word mother is defined as “the female parent of a child or children” while the word “woman” is defined as a “person who is female.”
Under the law, any state agency, “political subdivision,” or department collecting vital statistics for data on public health, crime, or any other data is required to identify people as either male or female.
In February, Senator Cyndi Hyde-Smith (R-MS) re-introduced a similar resolution in the US Senate called the Women’s Bill of Rights that would have defined “woman” and “mother.”
Hyde-Smith said the purpose of the resolution was to affirm under federal law the biological difference between male and female, “ensuring that womanhood is not erased.” The senator argued that the problem with attempting to redefine words like male and female is that “they end up doing more harm than good.”
