The bill passed out of committee and now heads for a vote before the full Senate.
On Wednesday in the Pennsylvania State Senate, the Education Committee in the majority advanced a bill restricting the participation of transgender student athletes in sports.
The Save Women’s Sports Act, sponsored by Senator Judy Ward, will now move to a vote on the Senate floor. It defines “sex” as male or female assigned at birth and would prevent transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports through college.
State Senator Lindsey Williams, a Democrat of Allegheny County, opposed the bill. In her remarks at the committee hearing, she said, “I want all girls to know that there are elected officials like me who believe female bodies are just as strong and fast and capable as male bodies.”
She continued her remarks, saying, “The bill assumes that female bodies are less than male bodies, that girls are at an automatic disadvantage and can’t possibly compete against boys even though girls do it every day.”
While Williams argued that there is no biological difference between males and females in terms of athletic capability, Senator Dawn Keefer, a Republican of York County, said, “This is about biology, right? This is our inherent nature, and I’ve been frustrated watching our young women struggle over the past several years to compete on a fair platform and have opportunities and victories swiped from them.”
Senator Timothy Kearney, a Democrat from Delaware County, referenced Lia Thomas during the hearing. Thomas, who identifies as a transgender woman, won the 500-yard freestyle race at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Thomas began transitioning in college, meaning he went through puberty as a male before beginning hormone replacement therapy.
Kearney said, “I think we all agree that was something that probably should have been stopped.”
Senator Judy Ward, a Republican from Blair County, sponsored the bill to protect gender progress under Title IX’s federal protections against gender-based discrimination.
Governor Josh Shapiro has previously stated that he would veto such a bill should one reach his desk.
At the federal level, President Trump signed an executive order in January banning transgender women and girls from competitive sports in public schools and colleges. The NCAA and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference also changed their rules in accordance with the executive order.
U.S. House Republicans also passed a similar bill in January that the U.S. Senate has yet to take up for consideration.
