Texas Senate approves bill defining man, woman based on reproductive organs

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved a bill strictly defining a man and a woman based on reproductive organs.

The bill will go to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed after it was approved in a 20-11 vote.

The 'Women’s Bill of Rights' bill, which was authored by Rep. Ellen Troxclair, defines sex as "an individual’s biological sex, either male or female."

According to the bill, a female or woman is an "individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova", and a male or man is an "individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female."

The bill also defines a mother as a "parent of the female sex."

In late January, Abbott sent a letter to Texas state agency heads directing them to follow state and federal law, including President Donald Trump’s executive order, in rejecting radical sexual orientation and gender identity ideologies.

"The State of Texas recognizes only two sexes—male and female—and sex discrimination consists in treating a member of one sex less favorably than the other, absent some pertinent difference," he wrote in the letter.