(The Center Square) – Protection of women and their private spaces, such as dorms, restrooms or detention centers, has been proposed in the North Carolina Senate.
The Women’s Safety and Protection Act, also known as Senate Bill 516, brings definition to a number of terms already in the General Statutes. It also addresses allowable and prohibited changes to birth certificates and driver’s licenses regarding whether an individual is a male or female.
Some parts of the legislation would become effective immediately if made law; all others would be Oct. 1.
The proposal authored by Sens. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, and Brad Overcash, R-Gaston, is in step with Republicans’ federal efforts. For example, a female is defined as “an individual who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that, at some point, produces, transports, and utilities eggs for fertilization.”
Similarly, a male is defined as “an individual who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that, at some point, produces, transports, and utilities sperm for fertilization.”
The bill would “provide protections for women against sexual assault, harassment, and violence in correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities, domestic violence centers, dormitories, and restrooms, or where women have been traditionally afforded safety and protection from acts of abuse committed by biological men.”
Public schools, including K-12, community colleges and institutions in the University of North Carolina System, are included in the protected spaces.
For General Statutes already in place for birth certificate modifications, the bill removes the provision for sex reassignment surgery coupled with a written request, notarized statement from the physician who performed it or a licensed physician following an examination and certification.
The General Statute on driver’s licenses replaces “including the applicant’s sex, height, eye color, and hair color” with “including the applicant’s sex as reflected on the applicant’s birth certificate of birth, height, eye color, and hair color.”
The birth certificate and driver’s license sections become effective immediately if the bill is made law.
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comments from Sawyer and Overcash prior to publication.
