Four states have adopted measures defining what it means to be a woman, and West Virginia could soon become the fifth.
Republican Gov. Jim Justice and the GOP-led state Legislature have made it a priority to pass the Women’s Bill of Rights, which would establish that there are only two sexes for purposes of state law and define “male” and “female” based on biological sex at birth.
Mr. Justice is scheduled to join GOP state Sen. Patrick Martin and Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, as well as Independent Women’s Voice ambassador Riley Gaines, at a Monday press conference in Charleston to unveil House Bill 5243.
The Women’s Bill of Rights model legislation was drafted and released in 2022 by the right-of-center Independent Women’s Voice and Independent Women’s Law Center in collaboration with the left-tilting Women’s Liberation Front in reaction to the gender-identity movement.
The legislation would result in prohibiting male-to-female transgender individuals from accessing, based on gender identity, such single-sex women’s facilities as restrooms, locker rooms, domestic-violence shelters and prisons, as well as female scholastic sports teams.
Supporters of the legislation argue that it shields women from having their spaces infiltrated by biological males, while critics contend that it discriminates against transgender people based on their gender identity.
In April, Kansas became the first state to pass the Women’s Bill of Rights-inspired legislation after the state Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a similar measure in May.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, both Republicans, signed executive orders last year enacting the Women’s Bill of Rights protections.
In 2021, Mr. Justice signed legislation barring biological males from female scholastic sports. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law on behalf of a transgender middle-school athlete, but a federal judge ruled in favor of the state in January 2023.