East Idaho Times

U.S. Senators Mike Crapo, Jim Risch, and Tommy Tuberville have introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to maintain Title IX protections for female athletes. The proposed legislation aims to counteract changes made by the Biden Administration that the senators claim undermine these protections.

According to the senators, recent rulemaking at the Department of Education under President Biden has negatively impacted Title IX by requiring schools to allow males in female private spaces and sports categories or risk losing funding. "Our female athletes have invested immense time and effort to excel in sports, only to face unfair competition from biological males in women’s categories," said Crapo. He emphasized his commitment to preserving fairness and opportunities for women in sports.

Risch expressed similar concerns: “Allowing biological males in women’s sports is unfair to the young women who compete tirelessly at every level.” He stressed the importance of protecting fair competition for future generations of female athletes.

Tuberville noted that a significant majority of Americans support maintaining gender-specific categories in sports. “President Trump ran on the issue of saving women’s sports and won in a landslide,” he said. Tuberville also highlighted his personal motivation, mentioning his soon-to-be-born granddaughter as an inspiration for ensuring her right to fair competition.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act seeks to define gender based on reproductive biology and genetics at birth within Title IX provisions. It would also prohibit federally funded entities from facilitating athletic programs that allow males to participate in women's events.

The bill has garnered support from several other Republican senators who have joined as original cosponsors, including Jim Banks, John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Katie Britt, Ted Budd, Shelley Moore Capito, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Steve Daines, Joni Ernst, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Ron Johnson, John Kennedy, James Lankford, Mike Lee, Cindy Lummis, Roger Marshall, Rand Paul, Pete Ricketts, Eric Schmitt, Rick Scott, Tim Sheehy, Dan Sullivan, Thom Tillis and Roger Wicker.