PIERRE, S.D.(WNAX)- A bill that would not allow changes to gender on a birth certificate is half way through the legislative process in South Dakota.

HB-1076 was defeated in a House committee, smoked out to the House floor and passed on a vote of thirty nine to thirty one.

House Majority Leader Kent Peterson of Salem says the majority wanted the bill on the floor.

Peterson says they had several rounds of debate.

Peterson says he and Assistant Majority Leader Chris Johnson of Rapid City split their votes.

Representative Erin Healy of Sioux Falls says it is an extensive process to amend a birth certificate.

Healy, a democrat, says the original gender is not erased on an amended birth certificate.

Healy says the continued focus on trans gender people gives the state a bad image.

The bill will next be heard in a Senate committee.