Michigan U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten on Tuesday voted against a measure to protect women’s Title IX rights and the integrity of school sports.
The Grand Rapids Democrat voted “nay” on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act that cleared the lower chamber on a vote of 218-206, with all Republicans and two Democrats in support.
“I’m all for safety & fairness in sports, but this is a reactionary bill that endangers children,” Scholten alleged on X.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
The sophomore congresswoman claimed House Resolution 28 “opens the door to routine genital exams on kids – kids could be required to ‘prove their gender’ via invasive inspections by unfamiliar adults,” she wrote.
“As a mom, especially one who saw the horror unleashed on our young athletes by Larry Nassar here in Michigan, I can’t stand behind something that puts our kids’ privacy and safety at risk,” the post continued. “My vote is for our children.”
Others from the Michigan Congressional Delegation who voted against the resolution include Reps. Debbie Dingell, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib, and Shri Thanedar, according to the record.
Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez were the only two Democrats to vote with the Republican majority.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act ensures that Title IX defines sex as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” which is documented on a birth certificate. It’s unclear why HR 28 would require genital checks that were not necessary before, as Scholten contends.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates roughly 3% of high school students identify as transgender.
Schools that allow “a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designed for women or girls” would be in violation of the federal protections, potentially trigging a loss of federal funding, CBS News reports.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that men don’t belong in women’s sports and that we must allow common sense to prevail,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., who introduced the bill, said Tuesday.
MORE NEWS: Rep. Ken Borton blasts DNR over proposed fee increases, threatens to ‘zero out their budget’
Polls have repeatedly shown the public opposes allowing biologically male athletes to participate in female sports. A survey conducted by the University of Chicago last June found 69% of U.S. adults believe transgender girls should never or rarely be allowed to compete against biological girls.
Another poll conducted by McLaughlin and Associates in February 2023 found “77 percent of voters with an opinion on the issue believe that the changes recently made to Title IX, allowing males who identify as females to compete against biological women in college female sports, has been harmful to women’s sports and biological female athletes.”
It was similar results from Gallup in 2023, when 69% of those polled opposed transgender athletes playing on teams that align with the gender identity. The 69%, Gallup noted, was up seven percentage points over 2021.
House Republicans previously passed the ban on biological males in female sports in 2023 with no support from Democrats, but the measure died in the Senate under Democratic control. Roughly half of states already limit transgender athlete participation, and Republicans successfully campaigned on the issue in 2024.
The Senate flipped to Republican control in November, and legislation to address the issue is now pending there, as well, CBS News reports.
Efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to force transgender athletes into women’s sports through changes to Title IX remain mired in litigation, and President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to reverse course.
While Democrats remain in steadfast opposition to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, at least some are acknowledging it’s a losing issue, and have called on the party to rethink its messaging on transgender issues.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Rep. Seth Moulton, D-New York, told The New York Times following the red wave in November. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”