On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to preserve Title IX protections for female athletes and allow safe and fair competition in women's sports in the United States.
Representative Greg Steube (R-Florida) introduced the bill, and two Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it.
The companion measure in the Senate is from Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).
Paula Scanlan, a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania who now serves as legislative liaison for Independent Women's Forum (IWF), calls it commonsense legislation.
"Words have meaning," she asserts. "If we can't define what a woman is, we can't defend women's rights. That's really what this boils down to. I hope to see this pass the Senate, and I hope to see bipartisan support as well."
Considering that polling shows the majority of Americans support this type of legislation, Scanlan says she is "very excited to see what happens."
"I think we will see it passed in the Senate," she predicts.
President-elect Donald Trump mentioned on the campaign trail that he was against males competing in female sports. His supporters applauded him for that. Scanlan says the previous generation "fought so hard for Title IX" only to see it stripped away, in recent years especially.
She invites men and women of all ages to stand up and speak out for Title IX as it was intended.
