Family First NZ is calling on both the National Party and the ACT Party to fast-track NZ First’s member’s bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law, and adopt it as a government bill.
The What is a Woman? campaign last year called for ‘woman’ to be defined as ‘an adult human female’ in all our laws, public policies and regulations and was signed by more than 23,500 people and presented to parliament last August. We are still awaiting a response from the select committee.
An appropriate bill would state that:
● an individual’s “sex” means an individual’s sex at birth, either male or female;
● a “female” means an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova; 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 utilizes eggs for fertilization.
● a “male” means an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilise the ova of a female 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 utilizes sperm for fertilization.;
● “woman” and “girl” refer to human females, and “man” and “boy” refer to human males;
● “mother” means a parent of the female sex, and “father” means a parent of the male sex; and
● with respect to biological sex, separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.
The bill would require and state that distinctions between the sexes be considered substantially related to the important governmental objectives of protecting the health, safety, and privacy of individuals, with respect to the following areas:
● schools;
● sports;
● prisons or other detention facilities;
● domestic violence centers;
● rape crisis centers;
● changing rooms;
● toilets; and
● other areas where biology, safety, or privacy are implicated that result in separate accommodations.
Individuals born with a medically verifiable diagnosis of disorder/differences in sex development should be provided appropriate legal protections.
How do we target specific women’s health issues or target the gender pay gap, or violence against women, or support the Women’s Refuge, or uphold our nation’s history of fighting for women’s rights if we can’t define the target audience in the first place?
A ’woman’ always has been, always will be, our beloved mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts – an adult human female.
Given the recent decision by the UK Supreme Court, it’s time that NZ’s government also removes the confusion and returns to simple biological reality.
This article was originally published by Family First New Zealand.
