Text of US HR 115 (2023)

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 115 Establishing a Women’s Bill of Rights to reaffirm legal protections afforded to women under Federal law. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. HERN, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. GUEST, Mr. SANTOS, Mr. OGLES, Ms. FOXX, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. OWENS, Mr. JACKSON of Texas, Ms. HAGEMAN, and Mr. DUNCAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Establishing a Women’s Bill of Rights to reaffirm legal protections afforded to women under Federal law. Whereas males and females possess unique and immutable bi- ological differences that manifest prior to birth and in- crease as they age and experience puberty; Whereas biological differences between the sexes mean that only females may get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children; Whereas biological differences between the sexes mean that males are, on average, larger in size and possess greater body strength than females; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR115.IH HR115 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 115 IH Whereas biological differences between the sexes can expose females to more harm than males from specific forms of violence, including sexual violence; Whereas women have achieved inspirational and significant accomplishments in education, athletics, and employment; and Whereas recent misguided court rulings related to the defini- tion of ‘‘sex’’ have led to endangerment of spaces and re- sources dedicated to women, thereby necessitating clari- fication of certain terms: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives reaf- 1 firms that— 2 (1) for purposes of Federal law, a person’s 3 ‘‘sex’’ means his or her biological sex (either male or 4 female) at birth; 5 (2) for purposes of Federal law addressing sex, 6 the terms ‘‘woman’’ and ‘‘girl’’ refer to human fe- 7 males, and the terms ‘‘man’’ and ‘‘boy’’ refer to 8 human males; 9 (3) for purposes of Federal law, the word 10 ‘‘mother’’ means a parent of the female sex and ‘‘fa- 11 ther’’ is defined as a parent of the male sex; 12 (4) there are important reasons to distinguish 13 between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons, 14 domestic violence shelters, restrooms, and other 15 areas, particularly where biology, safety, and privacy 16 are implicated; 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR115.IH HR115 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 115 IH (5) policies and laws that distinguish between 1 the sexes are subject to intermediate constitutional 2 scrutiny and permitted when they serve an impor- 3 tant governmental objective and are substantially re- 4 lated to achieving that objective; and 5 (6) for purposes of complying with Federal laws 6 that require State and local government agencies to 7 collect or report data disaggregated by sex, such as 8 Federal antidiscrimination laws, agencies are re- 9 quired to base such data on the biological sex of in- 10 dividuals at birth. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR115.IH HR115 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB