PA News Update
Our General Assembly is back in session
Dear Readers, if you have any photos from the SCOTUS demonstration in DC or if you want to write about your experience there, please contact PA4SBR. We welcome contributions from you. As always, you can remain anonymous.
If you missed the oral arguments for the two women’s sports cases, you can still listen to them.
Little v. Hecox: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/24-38
West Virginia v. B. P. J.: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/24-43
Speaking of SCOTUS, here’s an exchange that makes Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sound like an intellectual. From Dr Emma Hilton, biologist and TERF.
And our pals at ACLU have a new ad. Ugh.
Pennsylvania News Briefs
Penn’s Title IX settlement ‘set the tone’ for transgender athlete cases, Education Secretary says.
“UPenn was at the epicenter of this [men in women’s sports] debate," McMahon said on Jan. 13. “Our agreement with the university led to the restoration of female athletes’ rightful titles, the elimination of policies that allowed students to compete on teams based on their ‘gender identity’ rather than sex, and the issuance of an apology to female athletes whose educational experience was marred by sex-discrimination."
Nearly 30 states have banned transgender athletes from school sports, list shows. Pennsylvania is not one of them — YET.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington are the children's hospitals under scrutiny for treating transgender youth. Of course, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s coverage is entirely biased.
On her Substack, PA4SBR’s Dr Beth Ann Rosica writes that Even a Supreme Court Win Won’t Save Girls’ Sports in Pennsylvania.
Currently, schools throughout Pennsylvania are allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports, and they are taking away spots at district and state competitions which directly impacts college scholarship opportunities.
…
We have a long road ahead of us in Pennsylvania to enact legislation to protect girls and women, and it is incumbent upon all of us — regardless of political affiliation — to stand up and speak out. Most Americans believe that boys should not be able to play in girls’ sports; yet in our Commonwealth, we can’t get the Democratic-majority House to advance the bill, despite the fact that many Democrats support this position.
Dr Rosica also reports that PA state senators Judy Ward and Kristin Phillips-Hill were in DC. Senator Ward is the prime sponsor of PA SB 9, the Save Women's Sports bill, and Senator Phillips-Hill is a cosponsor.
PA General Assembly is back
Our state legislature runs on a two-year session; we’re currently in 2025-2026. Already some legislators have published two excellent Memoranda.
Representatives Jeanne McNeill and Chris Pielli have published Regulating AI for Children. Their proposed legislation would
… require AI to verify a user’s age and would prohibit a minor from accessing or using an AI companion. Furthermore, AI chatbots would be prohibited from soliciting minors to engage in, describe or transmit images of sexually explicit conduct. AI chatbots would be prohibited from encouraging suicide, self-harm, or physical or sexual violence. The penalty under this legislation would be a maximum fine of $100,000 for each violation.
Senators Chris Gebhard and Cris Dush have published Ending State Funding for Gender Transition of Minors. Their proposed legislation would
… eliminate funding for any healthcare system that continues providing gender-affirming [sic] medical interventions to minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
…
This approach has been driven by ideology rather than sound, evidence-based medicine. These gender transition surgeries are considered irreversible and have lifelong physical and psychological impacts. We have a responsibility to protect our most vulnerable population and ensure that medical care for children is grounded in real science, not political agendas.
PA4SBR will continue to monitor our General Assembly for additional sex-realist legislation.
Today’s lagniappe:
The Protect Women's Sports Rally on January 13th had some amazing speakers along with the Protect Women's Sports Gala which was held later that evening. You can find most of those speeches here:
https://youtube.com/@alliancedefends?si=xX3h-kilvafC6q-n
I was proud to see my Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill in DC along with Senator Judy Ward and Representative Barb Gleim who was the original sponsor of HB 972 The Fairness in Women's Sports bill which passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support but was vetoed by Gov. Wolf. Our country has come a long way since then. Hopefully, the court's decision will pave a way for PA to finally pass our bill again with a veto proof majority.