Over in the ruby-red state of Oklahoma, Governor Ken Stitt just signed into law a bill that defines “female” and “mother” so that state laws have “clarity, certainty, and uniformity.” The bill provides that only those defined as “female” can receive government grants meant for women and stipulates that only those defined as female can use female restrooms, prisons, rape shelters, locker rooms, and other such gender-segregated places.
Importantly, the bill defines a woman as “a natural person who is female” and, building on that, defines “mother” as “the female parent of a child or children.” Continuing, it goes on to provide that “The state, any political subdivision, or any state agency or department including but not limited to public school districts that collects vital statistics for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic or other data shall identify any natural person who is part of the collected data as either male or female as defined in Section 62 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes.”
Governor Stitt, defending the bill in an op-ed for Fox News Digital, said, “Let us celebrate the good work our nation has done to champion women’s opportunities and give women a seat at this table. To preserve this progress, we must continue to ensure the law can distinguish between women and men on the basis of sex. Such distinctions are to be celebrated, not erased.”
He also said, “I am proud to be the first governor in the nation to direct state agencies and programs to preserve women-only spaces, to uphold the God-given rights and opportunities of women, and to ensure that where the state gathers vital statistics, those statistics are biologically accurate and have scientific and scholarly value.”
And, in a passage on the important provisions of the bill, Gov. Stitt said, “We do not need biological men in women’s prisons, women’s rape crisis centers, or violence shelters. We do not need biological men in locker rooms with our wives and daughters. We should also never allow there to be an instance that an athletic scholarship or award designed for a woman be given to a biological man.”
That, in some respects, echoes what state Sen. Jessica Garvin, told the Daily Caller in January, saying that the bill is necessary and important because “There are states where there have been men who have been incarcerated, and then they decided to identify as female. That has obviously been problematic because it turns out some of these men have sexually abused women while incarcerated,”
Commenting on the bill, Victoria Coley said, “Exclusive from @politico on the #WomensBillofRights!! Oklahoma @GovStitt expected to be the first governor in the country to adopt the Women’s Bill of Rights by executive order. Words have ZERO meaning in law/code without a common language. And women have ZERO protections and rights unless we have a common understanding of what a ‘woman’ is. That’s why we need leaders like Gov. Stitt to clear up confusion and concern, set the default, and stand committed to defending women’s equal opportunity, privacy, and safety by advancing the @IWV Women’s Bill of Rights.”
Exclusive from @politico on the #WomensBillofRights!! Oklahoma @GovStitt expected to be the first governor in the country to adopt the Women's Bill of Rights by executive order. Words have ZERO meaning in law/code without a common language. And women have ZERO protections and… pic.twitter.com/Na92fycmsQ
— Victoria Coley (@VictoriaRColey) August 1, 2023
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Kevin Stitt, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121454807
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