Oklahoma 2024 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1449 Engrossed / Bill

Filed 03/27/2023

                      
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ENGROSSED HOUSE 
BILL NO. 1449 	By: Hasenbeck, Conley, Stark, 
Crosswhite Hader, Townley, 
and Roe of the House 
 
   and 
 
  Garvin of the Senate 
 
 
 
 
An Act relating to discrimination; enacting the 
Women's Bill of Rights; declaring purpose; clarifying 
application and interpretation of act; amending 25 
O.S. 2021, Sections 16 , 1101, and 1201, which relate 
to definitions and general provisions; defining 
terms; construing provisions; authorizing 
distinctions for certain purposes; requiring certain 
identification in collection of data for certain 
purposes; providing for noncodification; providing 
for codification; and providing an effective date. 
 
 
 
 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STAT E OF OKLAHOMA: 
SECTION 1.    NEW LAW     A new section of law not to be 
codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows: 
A.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Women's 
Bill of Rights". 
B.  The purpose of the Women's Bill of Rights is to bring 
clarity, certainty, and uniformity under the laws of this state with 
respect to natural persons of both biological sexes and the manner 
in which they are treated as such under the la ws of this state.  All 
laws where the application thereof is contingent upon the 
classification of a person as being female or male, woman or man,    
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girl or boy, are hereby superseded and interpreted to the extent 
necessary by this act , including, but not limited to, any 
educational benefits, corrections housing, employment protections, 
and civil rights laws codified in the statutes of this state. 
SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     25 O.S. 2021, Section 16, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 16. The word "person," As used in the Oklahoma 
Statutes: 
1.  "Father" means the male parent o f a child or children as 
defined in Section 7 of this title; 
2.  "Female" means a natural person whose biological 
reproductive system is developed to produce ova; 
3.  "Male" means a natural person whose biological repr oductive 
system is developed to fertil ize the ova of a female; 
4.  "Man" or "boy" means a natural person who is male; 
5.  "Mother" means the female parent of a child or children as 
defined in Section 7 of this title; 
6.  "Natural person" means a person as defined in paragraph 7 of 
this section, except for bodies politic or corporate; 
7.  "Person", except when used by way of contrast, includes not 
only human beings, but bodies politic or corporate ; 
8.  "Sex" means a natural person's biological sex at birth; and 
9.  "Woman" or "girl" means a natural person who is female.    
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SECTION 3.     AMENDATORY     25 O.S. 2021, Section 1101, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 1101.  A.  This act provides for exc lusive remedies 
within the state of the p olicies for individuals alleging 
discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national 
origin, sex, religion, creed, age, disability or genetic 
information. 
B.  This act shall be construed according to the fair import of 
its terms to further t he general purposes stated in this sec tion and 
the special purposes of the particular provision involved. 
C.  Any policy, program, or statute that prohibits sex 
discrimination shall be construed to forbid unfair tre atment of 
females or males in relation to similarly situated members of the 
opposite sex.  The state or its political subdivisions shall not be 
prohibited from establishing distinctions between sexes when such 
distinctions are substantially related to a n important government 
objective, including, but not limited to, biology, privacy, safety, 
or fairness in locations and circumstances such as prisons or other 
detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis 
centers, athletics and locker rooms, a nd restrooms. 
SECTION 4.    AMENDATORY     25 O.S. 2021, Sec tion 1201, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 1201.  In Section 1101 et seq. of this title, unless the 
context otherwise requires:    
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1.  "Discriminatory practice " means a practice designated as 
discriminatory under the terms of this act; 
2. "Equal", with reference to sex as defined in Section 16 of 
this title, shall not be construed to mean same or identical, and to 
differentiate between the sexes shall not necessarily be cons trued 
to be treating the sexes unequally; 
3. "National origin" includes the national origin of an 
ancestor; and 
3. 4.  "Person" includes an individual, association, 
corporation, joint apprenticeship committee, joint -stock company, 
labor union, legal repre sentative, mutual company, partnership, 
receiver, trust, trustee, trustee in ba nkruptcy, unincorporated 
organization, any other legal or commercial entity, the state, or 
any governmental entity or agency. 
SECTION 5.     NEW LAW     A new se ction of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1202 of Title 25, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
The state, any political subdivision , or any state agency or 
department, including, but not limited to, public school districts, 
that collects vital sta tistics for the purpose of gath ering 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 16 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma 
Statutes.    
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SECTION 6.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2023. 
Passed the House of Representatives the 23rd day of March, 2023. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the House 
 	of Representatives 
 
 
Passed the Senate the ____ day of __________, 2023. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the Senate