House Republicans’ ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ amended to recognize marital rape

West Virginia House Democrats tried to add several amendments to House Bill 5243, also known as the Women's Bill of Rights, on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 in Charleston, W.Va. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

House Democrats tried on Friday to amend legislation known as a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” proposing additions to the bill like equal pay protections, eight weeks of paid family leave and getting rid of the tax on feminine hygiene products.

The controversial legislation, House Bill 5243 , would put into state code that any mention of women would only apply to those who are women according to their biological sex at birth. It would also provide legal backing to same-sex spaces, like bathrooms.

The bill also says, “Equal does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical’ with respect to equality of the sexes.”

Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, largely led the Democrats’ efforts to amend the legislation into something that they said would actually help women in the state.

Only one of her proposals — doing away with the state’s marital rape exemption — ultimately made it in the bill up for a vote due to an amendment from a Republican male lawmaker.

“I’m incredibly disappointed that we weren’t able to get a comprehensive Women’s Bill of Rights accomplished,” Young said after the vote. “Nothing in this bill still gives rights to women.”

Bill sponsor Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, urged passage for the bill. She previously told West Virginia Watch that it “clearly and consistently defines what constitutes female and male, which is a critical step to ensuring equal opportunities, rights and protections under the law.”

The majority of House Republicans rejected the Democrats’ amendments as presented, including one that would guarantee men and women autonomy to make health care decisions.

Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh

The bill did see one change following an amendment from Del. Brandon Steele, who asked to strike out all of Young’s proposals for her Women’s Bill of Rights except one that would permit sexual assault charges against spouses for unwanted contact.

Currently, state code that outlines sexual contact only applies to victims who are not married. Steele said West Virginia was one of few remaining states in the country that hadn’t added protections for married women.

“If this body didn’t want to pass a women’s bill of rights … we are able to at last fix a mistake that’s been left in code for years,” said Steele, R-Raleigh.

House members unanimously signed off on the amendment. It will be up for passage in the House on Monday.

“I’m very glad that marital rape is going to be outlawed in the West Virignia if we can get it thorugh the Senate,” Young said. “I think Democrats got that in the bill, and that’s a worthy aspect of the bill. The only piece of the bill that does anything positive.”

Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, cautioned delegates that the bill could override the state’s Human Rights Act , thus stripping away equality protections for men and women in employment, housing and more.

He unsuccessfully tried through an amendment to exempt the Human Rights Act from the bill’s reach.

“The Human Rights Act, which guarantees equality based on sex, will no longer do that because equal no longer means equal where sex is being interpreted across the entire state code.”

Several other states have introduced similar “Women’s Bill of Rights” legislation, which were backed by conservative nonprofit Independent Women’s Voice .

Earlier this week, the House of Delegates held a public hearing about the bill, where the majority of speakers opposed the measure for its lack of protections for women’s equality and potential harm to the state’s LGBTQ people.

A spokesperson for Fairness WV, an LGBTQ civil rights advocacy organization, said on Friday in a statement, “ Instead of any real protections, women have been told to settle for a culture wars bill that attacks transgender people … We’re glad that delegates amended the bill to strike the marital exception from state code, but that doesn’t need to happen at the expense of transgender West Virginians.”

Gov. Jim Justice championed the bill and said he will sign it should it reach his desk.

Correction: This story was updated to say that the House of Delegates will vote on the bill on Monday. It previously said that it was headed to the Senate.

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