RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) - The North Carolina Senate on Tuesday passed a wide-ranging bill that would restrict transgender rights, expand parental oversight in public schools and impose new rules for school library access.

House Bill 805 began as a bipartisan effort to combat sexual exploitation in the porn industry. It required websites to verify that all performers were at least 18, had given written consent for each sexual act depicted, approved the content's distribution and provided a straightforward process for removing content should a performer request it.

The General Assembly passed another measure in 2023 that led many porn sites to block access in North Carolina due to strict age verification rules.

The Senate added several more partisan sections to the bill in committee after it had unanimously passed the House. The House must now approve those changes before the bill can go to the governor.

Senator Paul Newton, author of the revisions, said changes to the bill are intended to support and recognize women.

"We cannot ignore biological realities and we believe our state laws should reflect that," Newton said. 

Under the Senate's revisions, the state would officially recognize only two sexes in all rules and policies. Should a person change the sex on their birth certificate, the old certificate will be attached to the new one and recorded as a joint document. State funds, including those from government insurance, cannot be used for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or gender transition surgeries for minors. Hormones are also barred for incarcerated people, except in cases to prevent "medical complications resulting in imminent physical harm."

It also extends the statute of limitations up to ten years for civil suits against medical professionals who provide gender transition procedures on adults, and removes a cap for damages on malpractice lawsuits over these procedures.  

The bill expands parental oversight in public schools by adopting policies that allow parents to excuse their children from classes covering topics they object to on religious grounds. Schools must provide advance notice when possible and offer alternative activities for students who opt out.

School boards are also instructed to create an online catalog of library books available at each school, visible to the public and allow a parent or guardian of a student to identify books that their child is prevented from checking out. 

The ACLU of North Carolina has voiced opposition to the bill, saying that children have a First Amendment right to read and learn free from censorship, and that the measure is a part of a larger strategy to push transgender people out of public and civic life. 

On Tuesday, the bill was further amended to bar public schools from housing students in shared-gender quarters during school activities without written parental consent, unless the other student is an immediate family member. A move to restore the original House version failed. 

Senate Democrats have said that the House will not pick up the measure, contending that the Legislature may take a summer break before it successfully passes legislation that tackles the problem of online sexual exploitation. 

Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said that the bill in its original form would have passed unanimously. The measure passed the Senate Tuesday, 27-4, with the majority of Democrats abstaining and voting "present." 

The bill "plays politics," Batch said, with a crisis that the Legislature needs to address. 

"We can be better," she said. "We should be better. The people of North Carolina deserve better."

Source: Courthouse News Service