A few weeks ago, @ADFLegal and others sounded the alarm on concerning language in the Protect College Sports Act. We proposed a simple fix (below). We are pleased and grateful that this fix was implemented. The PCSA has now been amended to clarify that it does not preempt state laws protecting women’s sports. We extend our deepest thanks to @SenEricSchmitt and @SenTedCruz for working over the past few weeks to make this critical fix to the bill. Both men have been great champions of fairness for women’s sports for many years, and their work to amend the PCSA helps preserve the Trump administration’s strong legacy on women’s sports. We’re also grateful to the state AGs who spoke out on this issue, led by @ToddRokitaIN; to Senators @HawleyMO, @SenatorBanks, @SenTuberville, @BasedMikeLee, and @RogerMarshallMD; and to our many allies who advocated for a fix. As we’ve said all along, Americans shouldn’t have to choose between fixing college sports and protecting women’s sports. On behalf of female athletes everywhere: thank you.

URGENT: My friend Päivi Räsänen—a doctor, grandmother, member of Finnish parliament, and devout Christian—was invited to speak at a religious liberty conference this week in Northern Ireland. The UK will not let her enter the country. This is due to her recent “hate speech” conviction for writing a church pamphlet, in 2004, on Biblical marriage. This outrageous ruling by Finland’s Supreme Court provoked widespread criticism from human rights experts, free speech advocates, and the U.S. State Department. Päivi was invited to this week’s conference in the UK precisely because she is a globally-recognized champion for free speech. Freedom-loving nations should welcome voices like hers—not uphold the heavy-handed censorship of other nations. ADF is calling on UK Home Secretary @ShabanaMahmood to make a last-minute intervention and allow Päivi to attend in person on Friday. Free speech is not a crime.

This weekend, at a gathering for Christian law students in @ADFLegal’s Blackstone Fellowship, we were blessed to hear from one of the most serious minds in American public life. @BenSasse has an impressive resume. But the rarest and most impressive thing about him is his deep faith—a faith on transparent display in the months since his terminal cancer diagnosis. So I couldn’t be more grateful for the priceless gift of Ben’s time, generously shared in a recorded conversation for our Blackstone Fellows. We talked about Christian life, marriage, career, and ministry—and what it will take for the Republic to survive. It was one of the most memorable conversations of my life. Yes, because the content is rich. But even more so because of the profound power of his testimony in a season of unfathomable hardship.

A Nigerian court ruled that Islamic religious police had no authority to arrest a young woman for converting to Christianity. The court even ordered that she be compensated. ADF supported her case and is continuing to stand with persecuted Christians in Nigeria.

For those asking “how would you edit the Protect College Sports Act to remove the risk to women’s sports?” . . . this is it. ⬇️ This is all @ADFLegal is asking Senators to add. A few words—most of which are single letters and numbers. Just a small change that would have a big impact for women and girls. This edit would tighten the language against efforts by activist judges to misinterpret the bill’s intent: addressing issues in college sports without preempting state laws that keep men out of women’s sports. Our team has been quietly asking the sponsors for this edit for weeks. But when our fix was ignored and the bill scheduled for a Senate vote, we felt a duty to speak up. Because our first loyalty is to the female athletes we’ve been representing in courtrooms and legislatures for nearly a decade. Athletes like @Riley_Gaines_, who knows all too well how little the NCAA cares about women’s privacy, fairness, and opportunity. Athletes like Madi Kenyon, who was forced to race against a male in women’s collegiate track. Athletes like Adaleia Cross, who stopped playing women’s high school sports after being bumped from competition and sexually harassed by a male on her team. The Protect College Sports Act is a massive bill delving into the minutiae of college sports—from NIL agreements to coach transfers to the suggested date for the college football championship. Surely we can spare a few words to safeguard the progress we’ve made for Riley, Madi, Adaleia, and all the young women coming after them.

Just so the record is crystal clear: ADF is not saying that the PCSA should be read to preempt women’s sports laws. We are saying that the bill could be misread to preempt those laws because the language is not as clear as it should be. Why take that risk when fairness for women is so important and a fix would be so easy? Recall that another federal law—Title IX—was used to override state women’s sports laws for the last six years. Title IX has regulations that allow schools to separate men’s and women’s sports, yet still, courts said states couldn’t do that in their women’s sports laws. The issue was so clear that all nine Supreme Court justices agreed: Title IX, properly understood, doesn’t override these state laws. But to reach that point, many states saw their women’s sports laws blocked for years while those cases worked their way through the courts. We’re not willing to risk that again. Clear language is available. Let’s include it!