Russian lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on Friday voted overwhelmingly in favour of legislation that would make ‘gender reassignment’ illegal.

“The State Duma banned gender reassignment in Russia. The relevant changes to the legislation, initiated by the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and deputies of all factions, were adopted in the final version unanimously,” a statement on the Duma’s website said.

The bill bans any medical interventions aimed at ‘changing’ the sex of a person, as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

In its second reading on Thursday, clauses were added that annul marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bar transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The bill must be passed by the Federation Council, Russia’s Kremlin-controlled upper chamber before being signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin.