Republicans in the North Carolina state House have filed a bill titled, “Save Women’s Sports Act.”

House Bill 358, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” would prohibit biological males from participating in “interscholastic or intramural athletic activities” for “females, women or girls.”

And according to the bill, “Sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

The bill states, “men generally have ‘denser, stronger bones, tendons and ligaments’ and ‘larger hearts, greater long volume per body mass, a higher red blood cell count, and higher hemoglobin.’ Neel Burton, The Battle of the Sexes, PSYCHOL. TODAY, (July 2, 2012).”

The bill also notes that a “study of female and male Olympic performances since 1983 found that, although athletes from both sexes improved over the time span, the ‘gender gap’ between female and male performances remained stable.”

The bill states that policies like those of the International Olympic Committee that require biological males to undergo at least one year of testosterone suppression before competing in women’s sports “does not create a level playing field.”  According to the bill the muscle mass advantage that males have over females is not removed by a year of testosterone suppression.

The bill states, “having separate sex-specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality.  Sex-specific teams accomplish this by providing opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their skill, strength, and athletic abilities while also providing them with opportunities to obtain recognition and accolades, college scholarships, and the numerous other long-term benefits that flow from success in athletic endeavors.”

With the introduction of this bill, North Carolina is joining 29 other state legislatures that are in vary stages of considering similar legislation to protect women’s sports.  The bills are a response to an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, which has been interpreted to require that transgender athletics be allowed to compete in sports in the gender with which they identify.

The opposition to that executive order has been widespread and includes women athletes such as former tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who has been quoted as saying, “It’s insane and it’s cheating.”