U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton Supports Legislation to Protect Girls’ Sports

LGBT,

In late September U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R — Arkansas) joined other U.S. Senators in co-sponsoring the federal Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.

The proposal is intended to protect female athletic programs in America.

In recent years LGBT activists have pushed to let men who claim to be women compete in women’s sports.

In 2014 Fallon Fox — a biological male who identifies as a female — severely injured Tamikka Brents in a Mixed Martial Arts fight.

In public schools around the country, boys have dominated track and field events against girls.

And last year a biological male who claims to be female won the female Cycling World Championship.

Letting boys compete against girls threatens to undermine women’s sports in many schools and communities. In some athletic events it can put female athletes at increased risk of injury.

The federal Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would help protect female athletes and athletic programs.

In a written statement, Sen. Cotton said,

“At their best, sports teach our kids fundamental lessons about fairness and integrity in a safe environment — but there’s nothing fair, honest or safe about allowing men to compete in sports leagues designed solely for women. This bill will preserve the sports leagues and teams that allow women and girls to excel as athletes. And it will defend the commonsense principle that women’s sports are for women. It’s tragic but unsurprising that such a defense is necessary.”

Ten years ago very few people could have imagined that legislation like this ever would be necessary. Unfortunately, unless a measure like the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passes, women’s athletics may become a thing of the past in many communities.

Click here to read the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.

You can thank Sen. Cotton for co-sponsoring this legislation here.

READ MORE

Federal Government Gives Faith-Based Organizations, Others $31M for Abstinence Education

Education

Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families office announced it awarded $31.63 million to 79 organizations that will teach sexual-risk avoidance to youth and young adults.

“Our goal is that all young people have access to prevention education services that promote the success sequence of graduating from high school, getting a full-time job and waiting until marriage to have children,” Elizabeth Darling, Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, said in a written statement.  “Funding for programs that educate youth on avoiding non-marital sex and other risky behaviors by teaching them to focus their efforts on making healthy decisions and setting goals that lead to self-sufficiency and success in life is critical.”

The federal government awarded the grants under the Title V Competitive Risk Avoidance Education program. The grants are intended to help teach youth personal responsibility, how to avoid risky behaviors, and how to wait until marriage before engaging in sexual activity.

Several faith-based organizations were approved to receive these grants, including First Assembly of God of Victorville, CA; Worship Centre Church in Fowler, CA; Catholic Charities Community Services in Tucson, AZ; University of Denver’s Colorado Seminary; Lutheran Social Services in Washington, D.C.; and others.

We know from experience in Arkansas that teaching abstinence and sexual-risk avoidance to teenagers is the right way to go.

In the 1980s and 1990s, public officials in Arkansas promoted Planned Parenthood-style sex education. The programs failed to have a meaningful impact on teen pregnancy and abortion in Arkansas.

These programs focused on teaching public school students about contraceptive use.

During that time, Arkansas’ teen birth rate remained high, and teenagers were among those most likely to have an abortion.

In 1997 the state switched strategies, promoting abstinence-based sex-education in public schools. The results were nothing short of staggering.

Teen birth rates and teen abortion rates in Arkansas plummeted.

From 1997 to 2003, the teen abortion rate fell by approximately 37%, and the teen birth rate fell by 16%.

Governor Huckabee’s abstinence-based sex education of the late 1990s and early 2000s was more than twice as effective combating teen pregnancy and teen abortion as Governor Clinton’s and Governor Tucker’s contraceptive-based sex-education programs.

In fact, it was so successful that it garnered national attention from other states.

In 2016 — while President Barack Obama was still in office — the federal Center for Disease Control released a 208-page report concluding teenagers who practice abstinence are healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who are sexually active.

The CDC’s report looked at everything from seatbelt and bike helmet use to substance abuse, diet, exercise, and even tanning bed use.

Their conclusion was that sexually-active teens were less healthy and engaged in riskier behavior.

Abstinence doesn’t just prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It is linked to healthier lifestyles overall.

Three decades of data shows that abstinence education like these sexual-risk avoidance programs doesn’t just work; it’s much better than the comprehensive sex-education programs that groups like Planned Parenthood promote.

Read the full press release from the HHS Administration for Children and Families here.

READ MORE