For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2026

For More Information Contact:
connect@acpeds.org

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds State Laws Protecting Fairness in Women’s Sports

ACPeds Applauds Landmark Decision

Atlanta, GA — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws in both West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox, holding that Title IX permits schools to maintain separate women’s and men’s athletic teams based on biological sex and that West Virginia’s and Idaho’s laws reserving female sports teams for biological females do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The landmark decisions provide important clarity for schools and states seeking to preserve fairness and equal athletic opportunities for female athletes.

The Court held that Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s athletic teams defined by biological sex and that states may maintain female athletic teams for biological females consistent with the Equal Protection Clause. The decisions provide long-awaited clarity after years of conflicting lower court rulings and strengthen the legal foundation for similar laws across the country.

Dr. Jill Simons, Executive Director of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) released the following statement:

ACPeds applauds this landmark victory for women and girls. For more than fifty years, Title IX has expanded opportunities for female athletes. Today’s decisions affirm that Title IX permits schools to preserve those opportunities by maintaining separate athletic categories based on biological sex. Protecting women’s sports ensures that female athletes continue to have a fair opportunity on the playing field.

Dr. Michael Artigues, President of ACPeds added:

Separate women’s athletic competitions exist because males and females are biologically different. Even before puberty, males generally possess physiological differences in strength, speed, endurance, and power that can create significant competitive advantages. Recognizing these biological realities is essential to preserving fairness for female athletes. Today’s decisions affirm what decades of scientific evidence, and ACPeds’ own published papers, have consistently demonstrated.

The Court’s decisions reaffirm that Title IX permits schools to maintain separate athletic teams based on biological sex and that states may preserve female athletic opportunities without violating the Equal Protection Clause. The rulings also reinforce Title IX’s longstanding purpose of expanding educational and athletic opportunities for women and girls.

Beyond these two cases, the Court’s decisions establish an important nationwide precedent that will provide guidance to schools, athletic associations, and policymakers while giving states greater confidence that they may continue protecting women’s sports through laws grounded in biological reality.

ACPeds has published both a peer-reviewed paper Male Participation in Female Sports: How Sports Performance is Impacted by Sex and a corresponding Position Statement on Male Participation in Female Sports, which summarize the scientific evidence demonstrating the persistent athletic advantages males retain after puberty.

To arrange an interview with Dr. Simons or Dr. Artigues please email connect@acpeds.org.

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About the American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians is a national organization of pediatricians and other
healthcare professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children.

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