Supporters of a bill seeking to legally define the terms "woman" and "man" say it is a matter of clarity, but opposition parties have described it as divisive and a "time warp".
The bill, in the name of New Zealand First MP Jenny Marcroft, passed its first reading in Parliament on Wednesday and will now go through the select committee process.
The Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill would define "woman" in law as "an adult human biological female", and "man" as "an adult human biological male".
Marcroft said what it meant to be a woman was "under attack," and the bill would deliver clarity and consistency.
She referenced a landmark ruling by the United Kingdom's Supreme Court last year, which found the term "woman" refers to "biological sex".
"New Zealanders should have confidence that their institutions, and the very language of their laws, reflect reality," Marcroft said.
"Progressive politics" had prioritised ideology over biology, she said - and the change would prevent ideological interpretations from creeping into the law.
"Women have had a gutsful of the gaslighting. It is misogyny in a modern form to cancel women when we speak up, it is misogyny in a modern form to deny our biological reality."
The legislation would not take away anyone's rights, she said. Instead, it would ensure sex-based rights for women and girls.
Minister for Women expresses reservations
National MP Nicola Grigg - who is also the Minister for Women - spent most of her five minute speaking slot pointing out the drawbacks of the bill, before explaining that her party would support it anyway.
Grigg said there were "real and substantive" concerns with the bill's approach - including that many pieces of legislation have moved away from using gender.
She did not think it would deliver clarity its proponents suggested.
"I'm not convinced that this bill would advance the rights and opportunities or the wellbeing of women and girls in any way, shape or form in New Zealand."
However some people felt strongly about it, she said - so National would vote for it "to ensure that New Zealanders have the opportunity to have their say" during the select committee process.
ACT's Karen Chhour said the debate was not about science, but about being able to speak plainly.
She said biological differences matter - like in sport, where males have physical advantages, and in healthcare, where it affected diagnoses - but New Zealanders were under the "pressure to pretend" they did not matter.
"At its heart, this debate is not about hate, it is about whether ordinary people are still allowed to trust their own eyes, speak honestly, defend sex-based rights without being shamed into silence."
Bill 'unworkable' and a 'time warp' - opposition
Opposition parties said the government should be focusing on what New Zealanders really care about, like the cost of living.
Labour's Camila Belich said the bill would create hurt in the trans community - but it was also "unworkable".
She referenced a report from the Attorney-General Chris Bishop, which said the bill would "give rise to discrimination on the basis of age" - because it includes the word "adult".
"There would be a wide range of presumably unintended consequences," it said.
Belich said that meant women under the age of 20 may not be able to access abortions, for example - because the relevant act allowing abortions references "women", and the law says if the age of maturity is not specified, it means someone under 20.
"That shows how problematic this type of bill is. If you remove the word adult from this, which is the only way to fix this bill, then you would have to define women as meaning children."
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said if the government really cared about women, it would not have made moves like removing pay equity rights, or cutting funding for some sexual violence prevention services.
"I don't think ... this would have been a government that granted women the right to vote.
"This debate is a timewarp back more than 100 years when men in power sought to define and suppress women to our physical parts alone," she said.
Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara said the bill would achieve nothing in legal practical terms, and it was harmful for trans people.
She urged the House to carefully consider the founding principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
"That is to protect our taonga, our ... most important taonga is people, tangata."
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