Alabama lawmakers advance bill that would define male and female based on sperm and ova
Alabama lawmakers are advancing legislation that would strictly define who is considered female and male based on their reproductive systems and whether they've ever produced sperm or ova.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers are advancing legislation that would strictly define who is considered female and male based on their reproductive systems. Opponents said the move could erode the rights of transgender and intersex people in the state.
“There are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female,” declares the Senate bill approved in committee on Tuesday.
It defines sex based on reproductive anatomy and says schools and local governments can establish single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms, based on those definitions. A House committee plans to take up similar legislation Wednesday.
The bills are part of a wave of legislation in Republican states that seek to regulate which bathrooms transgender people use, which school sports teams they can play on, and to prohibit gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, particularly for minors.
“I am here today to stand for women’s rights,” said Republican Sen. April Weaver, the sponsor of the bill. She said the definitions will guide courts in interpreting existing laws and “codifies the time-honored definitions of male, female, woman, man, boy, girl, mother, father, and sex.”
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