U.S. Senate Needs to Clarify that Sports Bill Won’t Preempt Good Law in Arkansas

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The following is a press release from our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom.

Thursday, Aug 6, 2026

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom CEO, President, and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner regarding the Protect College Sports Act (S. 4668), a bill currently in the U.S. Senate that could be voted on this week:

“For nearly a decade, Alliance Defending Freedom has worked with courageous female athletes, state and national lawmakers, and allies across the country to protect fairness, privacy, and safety in women’s sports. That work led to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order last January reaffirming biological truth and recognizing that men don’t belong in women’s sports. And it culminated with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Little v. Hecox and State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., upholding Idaho’s and West Virginia’s laws ensuring men cannot compete in women’s sports. The Supreme Court affirmed that states can protect women’s sports—a massive win for the 27 states that have passed laws doing just that.

“The Protect College Sports Act, which addresses issues such as Name, Image, and Likeness agreements and student athlete transfers, creates an unnecessary risk of undermining the Supreme Court win, President Trump’s Executive Order, and many other hard-earned victories for women and girls. The bill sets general eligibility rules for college athletes and then preempts states from maintaining their own eligibility rules, which could include laws saying men are ineligible for women’s teams. For weeks, ADF has warned Congress that activists could misuse the bill’s existing preemption language to argue that states’ women’s sports laws can no longer be enforced.

“Every senator who cares about women’s equal opportunity should act immediately to clarify that this bill does not preempt states’ laws protecting women’s sports. There is a simple fix available: Ensure the preemption of state laws is narrow. We are living in a moment where lawyers can’t even define what a woman is. There’s no room for ambiguity. Let’s not undo the hard-fought gains or pass permanent legislation that could jeopardize these victories. We are thankful for President Trump’s legacy of protecting women’s sports to date and we don’t want to see it undone.

“It’s time to keep girls on the field, not sideline them again.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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Doctors Allege Planned Parenthood May Be Committing Fraud to Cover Up Sex-Change Procedures

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Health experts are alleging that Planned Parenthood may be committing fraud to hide the reason it is giving cross-sex hormones to patients — including minors.

According to a report from the Washington Examiner, Planned Parenthood facilities in Pennsylvania have been using a billing code for “endocrine disorder, unspecified” when prescribing cross-sex hormones, rather than using the accurate billing code for gender identity disorder. Multiple physicians say this practice could amount to fraud.

Dr. Miriam Grossman testified before the Federal Trade Commission last year that the use of these alternative billing codes is intentional — done specifically to ensure payment for procedures that might otherwise be denied.

Besides being the nation’s leading abortionist, Planned Parenthood has also become a major provider of gender-transition drugs and procedures. As we have reported before, Planned Parenthood facilities in Arkansas both advertise so-called “gender-affirming care” on their websites.

Pro-lifers have also reported that Planned Parenthood is willing to prescribe cross-sex hormones to teenagers — sometimes at the very first appointment, without any mental health evaluation.

While Planned Parenthood continues to promote sex-change procedures, medical experts are sounding the alarm about how dangerous these procedures can be — especially for children.

Whistleblowers have come forward testifying about how they were rushed through gender transitions as children without understanding the procedures’ risks, consequences, or alternatives, and public health experts and policymakers in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, and other nations have found that science simply does not support “gender transitions” for kids.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. This good law generally prohibits doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

A federal court upheld the SAFE Act last year — meaning it is protecting children in Arkansas at this very moment.

Arkansas was the first state in America to enact a law like the SAFE Act, but since 2021 lawmakers in more than half the country have passed similar legislation. These measures are on the books, protecting children from the kinds of drugs and hormones Planned Parenthood sells. That’s something to celebrate.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Unpacking the Supreme Court’s Decision to Uphold Fairness in Women’s Sports

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On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a good decision upholding state laws that protect fairness in women’s sports.

The ruling makes it clear that states can keep biological males from competing in girls’ athletics at school. It also clarifies that the word “sex” in Title IX means biological sex — not gender identity.

Below is a short overview of the ruling and what it does.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs.

Over the past 50 years, Title IX has ensured women and girls are able to play sports in public schools, colleges, and universities.

But beginning around 2016, activists started reinterpreting “sex” under Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under that reinterpretation, public schools could be forced to not only let biological males compete in women’s sports, but also let them use girls’ showers, locker rooms, sleeping quarters, and changing areas at school and on school trips.

In response, many states enacted laws protecting students’ physical privacy and safety, and 27 states passed legislation preserving fairness in women’s sports.

The ACLU challenged West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws governing girls’ sports, and that lawsuit made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court — where they were upheld.

The Court’s decision protecting fairness in girls’ sports makes it clear that the word “sex” in Title IX means “biological sex” — not gender identity. The decision says:

“The term ‘sex’ in Title IX, the Javits Amendment, and the Title IX regulations cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex. The ordinary meaning of the term ‘sex’ at the time of enactment in the early 1970s was biological sex and not gender identity, particularly in the sports context.”

The Supreme Court ruled  9–0 that under Title IX, states may establish girls’ athletic teams based on biological sex. The Court also ruled 6–3 that the Equal Protection Clause lets states establish girls’ athletic teams based on biological sex. In their decision, the justices acknowledged that there is a compelling interest at stake, writing:

“The States argue—and the Court agrees—that the interests of safety and competitive fairness are important interests for purposes of equal protection analysis. And the States’ sex-based classification—limiting women’s and girls’ sports to biological females—is substantially related to those interests. See Ibid. Schools may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.”

That’s important, because other lawsuits in Minnesota, California, and Connecticut may consider whether the Equal Protection Clause requires states to protect fairness in girls’ sports or simply gives states the option of doing so.

We have written time and again about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

For example, female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports is unfair. It reverses 50 years of advancements for women, and in some cases it can even be dangerous.

Fortunately, educators, policymakers, and athletic organizations have taken steps to protect women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision will help protect students and preserve fairness for athletes in Arkansas and in every other state that has enacted laws like Arkansas’. That’s something to celebrate.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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