Women don't need a 'Bill of Rights' to define us. We need policies that improve our lives.

I don’t need our government to tell me that I’m a woman.

And I shouldn’t have to prove I am one, either.

Yet, Republican lawmakers in Oklahoma want to require just that through a “Women’s Bill of Rights” that our governor signed into law this past week.

Supporters say the bill is necessary to bring “clarity, certainty and uniformity” to how women are treated under state law. It defines a woman as one whose reproductive system at some point produces, transports and utilizes eggs for fertilization.

They argue that their plan preserves equal opportunity for women, yet it ignores the fact that this is clearly an effort to harm our transgender residents or those who don’t identify by a specific gender.

'Women's Bill of Rights' is insulting

What rights does this guarantee me?

It certainly doesn’t fix the state’s terrible gender pay gap where women typically make about 81 cents to every dollar of their male counterparts. That’s worse than the national average.

It doesn’t give women back the right to make reproductive health decisions that they feel are in their best interest. (The legislature actually took that one away, along with GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt.)

I'm a woman in STEM. I had to leave Oklahoma. My state must do better for women's health.

It doesn’t increase women’s access to physicians. We rank 43rd out of 50 in primary care providers.

It does nothing to improve our maternal mortality rate, which is 30 deaths per 100,000 live births, much higher than the national average of 23 per 100,000.

Frankly, the legislation, which passed because of overwhelming support from male lawmakers, is downright insulting to women and their “rights.”

If we want to bring uniformity to how women are treated under law, how about we don’t create a culture where men and women can challenge each other’s femininity and masculinity?

How will women be able to prove our femininity if someone dares challenge it?

Oklahoma's new law will harm young women, trans community

I’ve personally seen a woman questioned about her gender because she dressed in male clothing and had a hair style typically seen on men. She was trying to use a female locker room to dress. Spoiler alert, she was as female as I am.

The measure doesn’t address how exactly we’re to prove to authorities we’re egg producers.

If challenged by the gender police, are we going to be required to provide some extremely personal health information or perhaps undergo an invasive pat down or strip search to see if we have male genitalia?

If that sounds far-fetched, let me catch you up.

The Oklahoma Secondary Sports Activities Association has started requiring female student athletes to provide intimate details about their menstrual cycles. Critics say it’s an effort to measure whether a student is female enough to participate in girl’s sports. The agency, which isn’t run by medical doctors, argues that the info helps them flag medical conditions.

That’s not something many women typically discuss with each other, let alone a complete stranger.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

And, that’s not information that anybody should want in the government’s grubby hands. It would probably end up in some sort of database that’s later used for some unintended purpose.

Or worse – what’s to stop someone from maliciously weaponizing this?

Ensuring women's rights is important. This isn't the way to do it.

Listen, women do face a lot of challenges and conversations about their rights are important. But this is not the way to do it.

Man vs. bear: I've spent time with bears and men. In the woods, I'd rather run into the bear.

Women are underrepresented in our legislature and in leadership roles.

They face higher rates of poverty.

They face workplace discrimination.

They often bear the lion’s share of child care responsibilities.

They face sexual and physical violence at the hands of intimate partners.

In our own state, the governor earlier this year stripped women of their right to attend a leadership program designed to serve as an entry point into politics.

Where’s the legislation to guarantee the reinstatement of that program?

One thing that women are not struggling with is defining their own gender.

The last thing we need is Big Brother to try to define that for us.

We know who we are.

And it would be nice if our leaders could respect that and spend time on policies that truly make our lives better.

Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014. This column first appeared in The Oklahoman.

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma's 'Women's Bill of Rights' is insulting and harmful