A bill to legally define male and female solely by biological sex advanced Tuesday through the Alabama House Committee on Health.

Opponents at the committee’s public hearing raised concerns that the bill will lead to further discrimination against transgender people and violate their right to privacy.

“This bill surreptitiously targets trans people,” biologist Samuel Bartley wrote in a statement that was read at the hearing.

“It conflates existence with crime. It decides where someone is and is not allowed to exist.”

Rep. Neil Rafferty, R-Birmingham, proposed an amendment for “a reasonable expectation of privacy” that would prevent genital inspections or any other type of verification process at bathrooms as a consequence of the bill, but it died in committee.

House sponsor Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, said the bill did not seek to create “a bathroom police.” But Rafferty argued that it could, as it does apply to public accommodations in the state.

The bill, SB79, passed the Alabama Senate last week by a vote of 26-5, with Democratic senators casting the no votes.

It was brought forth by Sen. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, and defines a female as someone whose reproductive system produces ova and a male as someone whose reproductive system produces sperm.

But Bartley’s statement argued that writing laws based on these definitions was an “affront” to biology itself.

“A fundamental tenant of biology is that definitions shift with new information,” Bartley wrote.

“Claiming that definitions are immutable betrays that these are not biologists that made this bill. But if they are, they should be deeply ashamed.”

“The definitions in this bill contain factual information,” the statement continued. “But this information is misused and irrelevant to the bill’s findings.”

During the committee meeting, Rafferty agreed that defining sex legally may not be as “common sense” as Weaver and DuBose have claimed it is.

When asked by Rafferty what lawmakers were trying to accomplish with this bill, DuBose brought up transgender women participating in sports as an example of how the “misuse” of gendered terms “hurts women.”

Gov. Kay Ivey mentioned the bill during her recent State of the State address, when she talked about her priorities for the legislative session that started Tuesday.

“There are only two genders: Male and female. I look forward to finally putting my signature on the What is a Woman bill by Representative Susan Dubose,” Ivey said.

Rafferty was the only no vote in today’s committee meeting.

The bill will now go to the House for a full vote.