Mercy Muroki: Millions of women feel the tide of women's rights moving in the wrong direction

Scotland is set to become the first nation in the UK to make it significantly easier for people to legally change their gender.

The new legislation published last Thursday would make a series of amendments to the already-existing Gender Recognition Act, which has been in place for about 18 years.

The bill makes three major changes – firstly, it cuts the length of time someone has to live as their new gender before they can legally be recognised as that gender from 2 years to just 6 months.

It also scraps the need for those wanting to change gender to obtain a formal medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

And finally, it lowers the legal age for changing gender from 18 to 16.

My view is this – I think this bill creates more problems than it solves at this stage.

Some of these are immediately obvious and already manifesting before this bill has even passed.

Others will come much further down the line. Often, when it's too late.

Let's start with the former. Many women feel like moves which so casually relax legislation around men transitioning into women erode the rights of biological women.

Whilst JK Rowling might be the poster girl for that view, she's just the tip of the iceberg.

An iceberg of millions of women who feel the tide of women's rights moving in the wrong direction.

There are too many unsettled questions which remain - we can't just rush ahead to making it easier for men who believe they are women to be allowed to legally change gender so easily.

What about the conflicts between trans rights and women's rights when it comes to women's spaces, women's prisons, women's refuges, indeed all women's services. What about the issues relating to transgender women in women's sport, or even in girls' schools?

And, ultimately, who gets to decide what is right and wrong in these situations? Who's so-called rights take precedent?

Because I know for a fact that people like me - actual lifelong biological woman who have female chromosomes and female hormones running through every fibre of our being – are being painted as trans-phobes, bigots, and right-wing nutjobs for even pointing out the inherent contradictions between women's rights and trans rights.

The fact that people's rights sometimes clash is nothing new, and to pretend otherwise is to be grossly ignorant.

The second issue relates to problems that this might bring down the road, which might not be obvious now.

Do we really think that we're not going to see a rise in young people who regret transitioning in the future as a direct result of this legislation?

How many people do you know who would say that if a 16-year-old turns around and says they are transgender, they should be allowed to legally change their gender without even consulting a doctor, just a mere six months later?

A 16-year-old, as far as I'm concerned – indeed, according to the literal law of the land – is still a child.

A 16-year-old is deemed too young to buy a pint, too irresponsible to buy a firework, but this Scottish law wants you to believe that just after 6 months of deciding to live as a different gender, a 16-year-old is wise enough to make the life-changing decision to change their gender in law...

The crux is that it's all about balance, isn’t it? We must, in a civil society led by values of tolerance and freedom, decide on the equilibrium between trans rights and women's rights.

We must establish a robust system of checks and balances when it comes to changing gender.

My personal view is that total and absolute parity between the rights of women and the rights of men who believe they are women is not what we should be striving for.

Equilibrium doesn't mean parity. It means extending rights to trans people so they can live with dignity, without encroaching the rights of women, which in my view should not be in any way adulterated.

Until we have a full and frank discussion about what that balance looks like, then we are in no position to be rushing ahead with this kind of legislation.