This brings to mind a pending bill in California where they are trying to amend the state constitution to allow the state to discriminate based on race, sex, etc. as long as it is "research-based" or "research-informed". In practice, I imagine it would enable the state to cherry-pick or even solicit research that would allow them to discriminate in the way that they want.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.x...