A bill that would bar Conservative and Reform conversions from taking place at public ritual baths in Israel passed its first Knesset reading Wednesday.

According to the legislation proposed by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, the country’s ritual baths, or mikvehs, will only be allowed to operate according to the instructions of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

The bill, which passed with a 42-38 majority, is designed to override a February Supreme Court decision mandating public mikvehs be open to non-Orthodox Jews undergoing conversion.

Addressing the plenum after the vote, Gafni rebuffed criticism his bill essentially excluded Conservative and Reform Jews from public religious life, saying he was only seeking to “fix what we see as a misguided ruling.”