This past Monday night, Senate Democrats blocked the opportunity for Congress to permanently protect women’s sports from men who believe they are women and desire to compete in female categories based on their subjective feelings.

Sponsored by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would have codified the original intent of Title IX, that women should have access to their own athletic and educational opportunities. This is not a bill that should be necessary, but the last several years have proven that it is, thanks in part to the Biden Administration. Their attempted rewrite of Title IX to include “gender identity” into the definition of sex led to school districts and colleges across the nation allowing men who identify as women to compete on women’s sports teams.

Last month, President Trump issued an Executive Order clarifying Title IX, barring men from women’s sports; however,  some schools and states continue to flout the White House’s directive. In Maine, a male high school student won a girls’ pole vaulting state championship, leading to a viral confrontation between Maine Governor Janet Mills and President Trump himself. On March 1 of this year, a man set the nationwide record for highest triple jump mark in high school women’s track and field. This issue is not going away.

That’s why it is critical for Congress to act to make it the law of the land that women’s sports are for women only. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill. When given the opportunity in the Senate, every Democrat chose to vote against protecting women.

Unlike the House, where legislation can pass with a simple majority of votes, the Senate rules require legislation to first pass a procedural “cloture” vote before moving to the final vote. That cloture vote requires not a majority but rather 60 votes. With a 53-seat majority, that meant seven democrats needed to vote with their Republican colleagues for the bill to pass. Not a single one of them made that choice.

As Christians, we celebrate the knowledge that God created men and women to be different, complementary, and not interchangeable. Some of those key differences lie in the fact that men are simply faster and stronger than women, something that gives them an advantage in the vast majority of athletic competitions.

It is also an issue of commonsense, and one on which the overwhelming majority of Americans – Republican, Democrat, Christian or otherwise – agree. According to a recent New York Times survey, nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe that men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. It is a sign of just how radical the American Left has become that these Democrats would rather vote against the safety of women than risk angering their electoral base.

Several of these Senators are up for reelection in 2026 in states that support protecting women’s sports. For example, the Georgia House recently passed a bill similar to the one that came before the Senate this week – in that vote, two Georgia state Democrats joined their Republican colleagues to vote in support. Georgia Senators Ossoff and Warnock will have to face this reality in their reelection campaigns next year.

This is a list of all those Senators who voted against the bill. Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) were absent for the vote, a clear sign that they either did not take the vote seriously or did not want their “no” vote on the record. If you are a constituent of one of these Senators, make sure they hear from you about your disappointment in their failure to stand up for women.

While there is more work to be done to protect the inherent dignity of female athletes, there has never been more clarity about which elected leaders are willing to stand up for women and which are not. At Concerned Women for America (CWA), we will continue to hold our representatives to account and stand for truth.