PHOENIX, AZ Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) applauds the Arizona legislature for passing SB 1628 “The Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights” (WBOR), which legally defines sex-based words, such as ‘woman’ and ‘man.’ Independent Women’s Voice commends the legislators who supported the bill and calls upon Governor Hobbs to sign this common sense measure to prevent sex-discrimination and protect legislative transparency.

Arizona is the third state legislature to pass the Women’s Bill of Rights. Two other states have implemented WBOR through executive order. Inspired by IWV’s Women’s Bill of Rights, other states across the nation, including Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, are taking steps to pass bills that would codify the original public understanding of basic sex-based words as used in current law. 

Governor Hobbs now has the opportunity to become the first female governor to sign the Women’s Bill of Rights into law. 

Such legislation prevents judges, unelected bureaucrats, and administrators in Arizona from unilaterally redefining the word ‘woman’ to mean anyone who “identifies as a woman.” In this way, the Women’s Bill of Rights preserves the legislature’s authority to determine whether, and in what circumstances, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, athletic teams, locker rooms, and dormitories should remain single-sex. 

Paula Scanlan, Independent Women’s Voice ambassador, said: “I am so excited the legislature of Arizona is standing with women. Arizona’s Women’s Bill of Rights is a common sense bill that will help define sex based terms. Women and girls across the state are counting on Governor Hobbs to sign it, as she should know better than anyone that women and girls deserve to have equal rights and opportunities. This bill will stand with women and help us keep the rights we have fought so hard for.”

Jennifer C. Braceras, vice president for legal affairs at Independent Women’s Voice and founder of Independent Women’s Law Center, said: “Arizonans know that a ‘woman’ is an adult human female. Yet, today, a powerful group of activists seek to convince judges and unelected bureaucrats that men who identify as women have an unfettered right to access women’s spaces. The Women’s Bill of Rights is a tool for stopping this sort of interpretive overreach and judicial activism.”

“Laws are good only when they comport with reality,” added Cathi Herrod, president of Center for Arizona Policy. “The Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights would enshrine truth into the law. It rejects the fiction that the definitions of “male” and “female” are truly in question. Protecting women and girls requires facts and clarity. This bill provides both and we hope Governor Hobbs will sign it into law.”

The Women’s Bill of Rights, announced in March 2022, was drafted by Independent Women’s Voice and Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) in collaboration with the feminist organization Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF). The U.S. Chapter of Women’s Declaration International (WDI, USA) also endorses the Women’s Bill of Rights. 

“Notwithstanding Democratic Party leadership’s embrace of “gender identity,” leftist feminists globally are rejecting it in favor of laws, policies, and practices that protect the sex-based rights of women and girls,” said Kara Dansky, president of Women’s Declaration International USA and the author of The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls. “The Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights (SB 1628) would enact that protection in Arizona, and I urge Governor Hobbs to sign it.”

To read and sign the Women’s Bill of Rights, click HERE.

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Independent Women’s Voice fights for women by expanding support for policy solutions that aren’t just well intended, but actually enhance freedom, opportunities, and well-being.