Bills on trans youth, abortion to be introduced next DE legislative session
DELAWARE – Delaware’s legislative session may not start until January; however, one local lawmaker is asking constituents for opinions on bills he has in the works.
Fairness in Girls Sports Act
The Fairness in Girls Sports Act would require student athletes to participate in a sport associated with their biological sex. Republican State Senator Bryant Richardson says allowing transgender student athletes to compete on the team of their preference would be unfair for their cisgender counterparts.
“It’s just not fair to women,” said Sen. Richardson. “And, my main thing is I just want the girls of Delaware to have a level playing field when it comes to sports.”
The bill previously failed in the State Senate’s Health and Social Services Committee, after a lengthy and heated March 2022 meeting packed with testimony on both sides.
During that meeting, opponents to the bill called it an attempt “to erase [trans youth’s] presence from every day society.” The League of Women Voters of Delaware also officially denounced the bill then, saying it would drive a “wedge between transgender girls and [cisgender] girls.”
Despite that opposition last time, Sen. Richardson feels more confident for his next attempt.
“I have a lot more information on the problems associated with men identifying as women playing on women’s sports programs,” said Sen. Richardson. “When the bill was drafted by our research department at legislative hall, they did look at other states, and modeled Delaware’s law after that. But, of course, they have to fit it into Delaware code. All of that work has been done.”
Help Not Harm Act
Sen. Richardson also plans to push for the Help Not Harm Act, which would prohibit gender affirming surgery for children.
“It’s important to allow an adult to make a decision like that. But, I think when a child is being influenced and their bodies are being altered, I just think that’s a wrong decision,” said Sen. Richardson. “It’s just to protect the child from having procedures done to their bodies that are irreversible, and that they will regret later in life.”
The senator says this bill is another piece of legislation inspired by the work of other state legislatures around the country; it is also commonly called the Do No Harm Act.
At the same time, the bill is getting a nationwide push by the Family Policy Alliance. It’s a conservative Christian organization that lobbies state politicians on behalf of Focus On The Family; a fundamentalist Protestant ministry organization.
Women’s Right to Know Act
Another bill on the table for Sen. Richardson is the Women’s Right to Know Act. The legislation would require a health-care practitioner to offer showing a patient ultrasound imaging, or listening to the fetal heartbeat, before terminating a pregnancy. The mother would be able to decline.
This would be the bill’s second introduction to the Delaware State Senate; Sen. Richardson tells 47 ABC WMDT that he sees it as a sort of answer to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the nation’s response.
“I made the bill a little bit more palatable this time,” said Sen. Richardson. “There’s not penalty clauses in this bill this time, for not showing it. But, it’s just an ethical reason to show it; that the woman could be given she needs to make an informed choice.”
Asking For Feedback, Looking Ahead
The senator calls each of these three bills “heavy lifts.” He says that’s why he’s hoping to garner constituent opinions before the start of legislative session.
Aside from those three acts, Sen. Richardson says he’s also excited to get to work on money matters. “I want to work with the other legislators to try to improve the economy in Delaware, to bring more jobs to the state, to make it more business-friendly,” he said.
You can submit your comments to Senator Richardson by emailing him at Bryant.Richardson@Delaware.gov.
