Happy New Year 2025

Tag: protecting

CA lawmakers introduce bill protecting girls from trans athletes after state refuses to follow Trump’s order

After California took a stance refusing to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order banning trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, state Republicans are taking matters into their own hands.

On Friday, California lawmakers introduced three bills in the state legislature aimed to combat trans inclusion. One bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, focused specifically on sports. His bill would require that students use all school facilities only play on sports teams based on their biological sex and not their gender identity.

“We know the state of California is going to do everything it can to resist and avoid compliance with federal law, so it’s our role to try to force change at the state and local level,” Essayli said at a press conference outside the state capital building in Sacramento Friday.

Former San Jose State University volleyball coach, who was suspended and then let go from the program after filing a Title IX complaint over the school’s handling of a trans player last season, spoke at Friday’s press conference just days after her home was shot at. Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital she believes she was “targetted.” Police have not determined a suspect or motive.

“We need to make sure there’s DNA testing and moving forward there’s only women playing in women’s sports,” Batie-Smoose said at the press conference. “We definitely need to continue this fight and make sure that laws and legislation is changed so that we can have safe spaces for women and women in sports.”

Essayli’s bill would reverse a current law in California that protects trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

A law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, and gives California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow that law, even after Trump’s executive order went into effect, in a previous statement provided to Fox News Digital.

The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier this week that it is launching a Title IX investigation into the CIF over potential Title IX violations for its refusal to comply with Trump’s order.

In addition, residents have held protests and threatened lawsuits in response to the CIF’s current stance.

Essayli’s bill is the second proposal that California has seen to address the issue in 2025 alone.

California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls’ Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

“Young women who have spent years training and sacrificing to compete at the highest level are now forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages. It’s not just unfair – it’s disheartening and dangerous,” Sanchez said in a statement announcing the bill.

California’s enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone. Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, is currently embroiled in one of the most contentious local controversies on the issue.

A school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls’ cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said “Save Girls Sports.”

The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told “transgenders have more rights than cisgenders” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

In San Diego, a middle school was recently thrust into local controversy because of a transgender student using the girls’ locker room. San Elijo Middle School previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital, crediting its enabling of the transgender student to access the girls’ locker room to the school’s obligation of following state law.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to carry out the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports or entering girls’ locker rooms, despite pleas from multiple parents at the meeting to take action to protect the girls at the school.

Meanwhile, Stone Ridge Christian High School’s girls’ volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team.

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Transgender athlete supporter Kyle Harp, left, of Riverside holds the progress pride flag as “Save Girls Sports” supporters Lori Lopez and her dad Pete Pickering, both of Riverside, listen to the debate as they join the overflow crowd converging outside the Riverside Unified School District meeting Thursday night to debate the rights of transgender athletes to compete in high school sports Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Before that, a transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

The two other bills that were introduced Friday, by Essayli and freshman Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, focus on empowering parents to remove their children from settings and situations that promote transgender ideology in public schools.

“Reestablishing the primacy of parental rights over dangerous indoctrination is a critical first step in reestablishing trust in our schools and educators,” Castillo said Friday.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 14, 2025
Linda McMahon speaks out on protecting women and girls from trans athletes during confirmation hearing

Linda McMahon made her stance clear on trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports during her confirmation hearing for education secretary on Thursday.

“I do not believe that biological boys should be able to compete against girls in sports, and I think now that certainly not only have the people spoken, because that was something that Trump ran very heavily on, but I believe the court has spoken,” McMahon said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Linda McMahon speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 18, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America (CWA) legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of “Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls and women’s bathrooms,” as important to them. And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was “very important.”

Trump vowed during his 2024 campaign to ban trans athletes from women’s and girls’ sports. Trump made good on that promise early when he signed the No Men in Women’s Sports executive order on Feb. 5.

Prior to that, the Supreme Court ruled in August to deny a Biden administration emergency request to enforce portions of the former president’s Title IX rewrites that would allow biological males in women’s and girls’ changing rooms.

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

And as McMahon looks to get confirmed as education secretary, she insists on carrying out the original mission of Title IX, and keeping women’s sports for biological females.

“We are really back to what Title IX was originally established to do and that was to protect social discrimination. Women should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn’t have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them,” McMahon said Thursday.

“I heard one person the other day say, ‘Well, guys should just hold the shower curtain in front of them so that they aren’t exposing themselves.’ I mean really, that’s just not what we should be doing. We should be making sure that Title IX, which is the law, should be enforced.”

The Biden administration education secretary, Miguel Angel Cardona, supported allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.

Cardona helped draft the Title IX changes that would have prohibited blanket bans of transgender athletes on public school teams.

In a June 2021 interview with ESPN, Cardona said “transgender girls have a right to compete.”

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Linda McMahon testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“Our LGBTQ students have endured more harassment than most other groups. It’s critically important that we stand with them and give them opportunities to engage in what every other child can engage in without harassment,” Cardona said.

“It’s their right as a student to participate in these activities. And we know sports does more than just put ribbons on the first-, second- and third-place winner,” he said. “We know that it provides opportunities for students to become a part of a team, to learn a lot about themselves, to set goals and reach them and to challenge themselves. Athletics provides that in our K-12 systems and in our colleges, and all students deserve an opportunity to engage in that.”

Now, under the Trump administration, there will be multiple layers of efforts to prevent trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports, and McMahon’s agenda will be one of those layers if she is confirmed.

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democratic, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 13, 2025
High school trans athletes fighting Trump’s executive order protecting girls’ sports in court

The families of two transgender high school athletes in New Hampshire have added President Donald Trump’s administration to a lawsuit challenging laws that prevent the athletes from competing in girls’ sports.

The teenage plaintiffs, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, originally filed the lawsuit last year to challenge a current New Hampshire state law prohibiting trans athletes from participating in girls’ sports. On Wednesday, a federal judge granted a request to add the Trump administration to the list of defendants over the president’s recent executive order.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5, which prohibited any federal funding for educational institutions that allow biological males to compete on women’s or girls’ sports teams.

New Hampshire was already one of 25 states with a law in place to enforce similar bans on trans inclusion, but Tirrell and Turmelle have been allowed to compete on girls’ teams anyway, thanks to the ruling of a federal judge in their state.

“The systematic targeting of transgender people across American institutions is chilling, but targeting young people in schools, denying them support and essential opportunities during their most vulnerable years, is especially cruel,” Chris Erchull, a GLAD attorney, said.

The lawyers claimed Trump’s executive order, along with parts of a Jan. 20 executive order that forbids federal money from being used to “promote gender ideology,” subjects the teens and all transgender girls to discrimination in violation of federal equal protection guarantees and their rights under Title IX.

NYC OFFICIAL REMOVES POST SUPPORTING TRUMP’S TRANS ATHLETE ORDER AFTER ‘GUIDANCE’ FROM MAYOR’S CHIEF OF STAFF

The lawyers also claimed the executive orders unlawfully subject the teens’ schools to the threat of losing federal funding for allowing them to play sports.

The situation involving the two trans athletes has also prompted a second lawsuit after parents wore wristbands that read “XX” in reference to the biological female chromosomes, and were allegedly banned from school grounds for wearing them.

Plaintiffs Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow School District after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters’ soccer game in September.

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In the lawsuit filed by Fellers and Foote, they alleged they were told by school officials to remove the armbands or they would have to leave the game.

Both of the fathers say the intention of the armband was not to protest Tirrell, but to support their own daughters in a game that featured a biological male.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 13, 2025
San Diego fails to pass measure protecting girls from trans athletes despite pleas from parents

A middle school in San Diego has been thrust into local controversy because of a transgender student using the girls’ locker room.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to carry out the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports or entering girls’ locker rooms.

Vice Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Jim Desmond brought forth the proposal at a San Diego Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. However, the measure did not get any votes from other supervisors outside of Desmond.

“People came into the meeting with their minds already made up on the issue,” Desmond told Fox News Digital.

“The rest were mothers who just didn’t think it was fair or safe for males to be playing in girls’ or women’s safe. So the room was probably 60-40 in favor of letting them play, but I think that’s just the turnout of who was able to take the day off and come down here. I think the vast majority of the people in San Diego County agree that males should not be playing in women’s and girls’ sports.”

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Tuesday’s meeting featured several arguments from concerned parents who expressed their concern over their daughters being forced to share locker rooms with biological males.

The middle school where this controversy is taking place, San Elijo Middle School, provided a statement to Fox News Digital, crediting its enabling of the transgender student to access the girls’ locker room to the school’s obligation of following state law.

“Public school districts in California are governed by, and must act in accordance with, California state law and the California Education Code,” San Elijo Middle School’s statement reads.

“As a California public school district, we will continue to follow state law and guidance from the California Department of Education to ensure that all students are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness. Our district remains committed to upholding policies that support all students, in accordance with state protections and anti-discrimination laws.”

President Donald Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order last Wednesday, which cuts federal funding for any educational institution that allows biological males to compete with girls and women.

However, multiple states, including California, have insisted they will not comply with Trump’s order. According to USA Facts, California public schools receive about $16.8 billion per year, which is 13.9% or one in every seven dollars of public school funding, which is well above the national average.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state’s law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” a CIF statement said.

Desmond said that many of his local constituents reached out to him expressing concern and disbelief about the state’s handling of the situation.

“They think it’s crazy, and I’ve heard questions of ‘is it even legal?’” Desmond said.

For Desmond, as a Republican, he sees the Democrat refusal to comply with Trump’s order as an issue that will continue to harm support for the party in his state.

“These people didn’t get the message in the last election and they’re just digging the hole deeper. They’re doubling down, digging their heels in the ground, ‘yes we’re right,’” Desmond said, adding that he thinks and hopes the trans athlete debate will strengthen Republican support in California.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

“I think it’s empowering us with the new administration to stand up and do what’s right. And that’s all we’re trying to do, we’re not trying to discriminate against anybody. If you want to be trans, if you want to identify as another [gender], fine, go for it, you have that right, but where do your rights end and somebody else’s begin? You can’t have one boy cause 30 girls to have to leave and go change some place else, that’s not right, we need a better system.”

The decision by California not to comply with Trump’s order has recently prompted backlash and even protests and threats of lawsuits by the state’s residents.

On Friday, residents gathered in Long Beach, California, to protest outside a CIF federated board meeting. The protesters then spoke at the board meeting, pleading with the CIF officials to follow the president’s order and threatening civil lawsuits against the CIF and state.

Currently, there is one lawsuit against the CIF and the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, over a situation at Martin Luther King High School involving a trans athlete on the girls’ cross-country team.

A recent school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls’ cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said “Save Girls Sports.”

The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told “transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

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That is just one controversy in the state that has erupted over the last year from its laws that enable trans inclusion in girls’ sports.

Stone Ridge Christian High School’s girls’ volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team.

A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls’ Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 12, 2025
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova says she hates ‘Democrats totally failed’ on protecting women’s sports

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova criticized Democrats on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect girls and women’s sports.

Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order from the East Room of the White House. The order gave federal agencies the power to ensure that entities receiving federal funding abide by original Title IX standards.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Navratilova, a lifelong Democrat who has championed fairness in women’s sports, ridiculed the other side of the aisle for failing to do what the president did.

“I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women’s sports being for females only,” she wrote in a post on X.

RILEY GAINES: THE ALL-OUT WAR ON FEMALE ATHLETES ENDS NOW, THANKS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP

It is not the first time Navratilova criticized the political party for not doing more to protect women’s sports. She expressed her frustration last month when the House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Only two Democrats voted with Republicans on the bill.

Martina Navratilova in a joint press conference with Chris Evert on day five of the GNP Saguaros WTA Finals Cancun in Cancun, Mexico, on Nov. 2, 2023. (Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports)

“More Dems need to step up here. I know many who agree but are scared to speak up because of re-election. I say do the right thing. Grow a spine,” she wrote on X.

Before Trump signed the executive order, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt implored the Senate to take the bill up for a vote because executive orders could be overturned.

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President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“It’s incredibly important Congress immediately acts on this priority,” Leavitt added. “I think the president is really setting the tone, making this a very immediate priority for this administration, just as he promised to do on the campaign trail.”

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

February 6, 2025
Trump executive order on protecting women’s sports draws response from NCAA

The NCAA responded to President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep biological men out of women’s sports Wednesday night.

Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room of the White House in front of female athletes on National Girls & Women in Sports Day.

NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the executive order in a statement, saying it provided a “clear, national standard.”

Baker said the NCAA Board of Governors would review it and take steps to align the organization’s policy in the coming days.

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President Donald Trump waves after signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s and girls sports in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” the statement said. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.

“The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”

Trump was joined by Independent Women ambassadors Riley Gaines, Payton McNabb, Paula Scanlan, Sia Liilii, Lauren Miller, Kim Russell, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Linnea Saltz and Lily Mullens.

NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks during a press conference celebrating the 25-year anniversary of the NCAA moving its national office to Indianapolis Aug. 13, 2024, at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. (Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar/USA Today Network)

“This doesn’t have to be long. It’s all about common sense,” Trump said before signing the order, adding that “women’s sports will be only for women. The war on women’s sports is over.”

RILEY GAINES: THE ALL-OUT WAR ON FEMALE ATHLETES ENDS NOW, THANKS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing before Trump signed the executive order that it “upholds the promise of Title IX.”

Leavitt said Trump expected the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to comply.

“He does expect the Olympic committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports,” she said. “I think the president, with the signing of his pen, starts a very public pressure campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls.

“Again, this is an incredibly popular position. There have been many notable female athletes who have had the courage to speak out against some very powerful institutions in this country. They deserve to have a voice and a say. The president is bringing their voice to the highest level of the White House. He expects these organizations to comply with this federal executive order he will be signing today.”

Felicia Martin, vice president of the NCAA’s Eligibility Center, spoke at a congressional briefing in Washington Wednesday to celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day and suggested the NCAA Board of Governors is already discussing potential policy changes once Trump’s executive order goes into effect.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s and girls sporting events in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“We know that this is an issue and a national conversation happening around participation,” she said. “The Board of Governors is right now having conversations about what potential next steps might be, but this is absolutely one of those issues that is ongoing.

“But without a national standard that can be applied across the board, all of us are making decisions based on what we think is the best for student-athletes and opportunities.”

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Martin added that she expects more clarity on a national standard later in the day from Trump. She also said the Board of Governors would make its decisions on any policy changes based on the specific details of the executive order.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

February 5, 2025
New York governor signs law protecting doctors who prescribe abortion pills

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed a bill Monday aimed at shielding the identities of doctors who prescribe abortion drugs after a New York physician was indicted for prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor in Louisiana.

The new law, which is effective immediately, allows for doctors’ names to be omitted from abortion pill bottles and instead replaced with the name of their respective healthcare practices.

This comes after a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, indicted New York physician Margaret Carpenter, her company and an associate on Friday for allegedly using telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills to a girl.

Hochul said she would not sign an extradition request to send Carpenter to Louisiana.

NEW YORK DOCTOR INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY PRESCRIBING ABORTION PILL TO PATIENT VIA TELEMEDICINE IN LOUISIANA

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill to shield the identities of doctors who prescribe abortion drugs to patients out of state after a New York doctor was charged in Louisiana. (Getty Images)

Authorities in Louisiana learned the name of the doctor because it was listed on the medication label.

“After today, that will no longer happen,” Hochul said at the bill signing.

The case appears to be the first time a doctor has been charged for allegedly sending abortion pills to a patient in another state since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Louisiana prosecutors said the girl experienced a medical emergency after taking the medication and was transported to a hospital. The girl’s mother was also charged and turned herself in to police on Friday.

It is unclear how far along the girl was in her pregnancy.

TEXAS AG SUES NEW YORK DOCTOR WHO ALLEGEDLY PRESCRIBED ABORTION PILLS TO WOMAN IN LONE STAR STATE

The new law allows doctors to ask for their names to be left off abortion pill bottles and instead replaced with the names of their healthcare practices. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

District Attorney Tony Clayton, who is prosecuting the Louisiana case, said the arrest warrant for Carpenter is “nationwide” and that she could be arrested in GOP-led states with abortion restrictions.

Physicians in Louisiana, which has a near-total abortion ban, could face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license if they are convicted of performing abortions, including via medication.

New York physician Margaret Carpenter is accused of sending abortion pills to a pregnant minor in Louisiana. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

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Hochul said she would push for another piece of legislation this year requiring pharmacists to follow doctors’ requests to leave their name off a prescription label.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Carpenter in December over allegations she sent abortion pills to a woman in the Lone Star State, though criminal charges were not brought in that case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 4, 2025
World Environmental Education Day 2025 Quotes: Best Slogans, Sayings, HD Images, Greetings, Messages and Wallpapers To Raise Awareness About Protecting the Environment

World Environmental Education Day, observed annually on January 26, serves as a global reminder of the importance of environmental education in fostering sustainability and protecting the planet. The day focuses on raising awareness about environmental issues, encouraging individuals, communities, and organizations to take proactive steps toward conservation. It emphasises the role of education in shaping responsible citizens who understand the significance of protecting natural resources. To celebrate World Environmental Education Day 2025 on January 26, share these World Environmental Education Day 2025 quotes, best slogans, sayings, HD images, greetings, messages and wallpapers to raise awareness about the environment issues and the need to protect the environment. January 2025 Holidays and Festivals Calendar.

World Environmental Education Day encourages educational institutions, NGOs, and environmental organisations to organise awareness campaigns, workshops, and seminars that highlight topics like climate change, pollution, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. By promoting environmental education, the goal is to inspire people of all ages to adopt eco-friendly practices and advocate for policies that safeguard the planet for future generations. As you observe World Environmental Education Day 2025, share these World Environmental Education Day quotes, best slogans, sayings, HD images, greetings, messages and wallpapers.

World Environmental Education Day Quotes

World Environmental Education Day Quotes (Photo Credits: File Image)

World Environmental Education Day Quotes

World Environmental Education Day Quotes (Photo Credits: File Image)

World Environmental Education Day Quotes

World Environmental Education Day Quotes (Photo Credits: File Image)

World Environmental Education Day Quotes

World Environmental Education Day Quotes (Photo Credits: File Image)

World Environmental Education Day Quotes

World Environmental Education Day Quotes (Photo Credits: File Image)

World Environmental Education Day also emphasises the integration of environmental education into school curricula, ensuring that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to tackle pressing global challenges. It aims to foster critical thinking, creativity, and innovation to solve complex environmental problems and build a sustainable society. Through collective action and continuous learning, World Environmental Education Day seeks to empower individuals to make informed decisions and contribute to environmental protection. By reinforcing the importance of education as a tool for change, this day plays a key role in shaping a more sustainable, conscious world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2025 06:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

January 26, 2025
Sen Blackburn expects more Democrats to vote for bills protecting women and girls athletes from transgenders

EXCLUSIVE: As the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act heads to the Senate after passing in the House of Representatives, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, believes it will continue to get bipartisan support there, just as it did in the House.

Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that she has spoken to multiple Democrats across the aisle who are in support of restricting trans inclusion in women’s sports.

“Many of my friends who are Democrats will tell you that they think Title IX is a thing and to have biological males competing against women is inappropriate, and they want opportunities for their daughters or nieces or granddaughters, and it’s frustrating to them when they hear or about or witness a transgender male playing in a women’s or girls’ league” Blackburn said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn speaks during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Getty Images)

When the bill passed through the House last Tuesday, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, were the only two Democrats to vote in favor of it. Blackburn expects and hopes that there will be multiple Democratic senators who vote in favor of the bill when it hits the Senate floor.

“I would expect there would be, I would hope there would be,” she said.

However, most Democrats have remained firmly opposed to the bill. Many have gone so far in their opposition to make unsubstantiated claims that the law would empower child predators to give genital examinations to young girls.

Many of the 206 Democratic house representatives, including Minority Rep. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., presented that argument despite no language in the bill that indicates genital examinations would be used.

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Republicans insisted that proof of birth sex can be determined simply by a birth certificate. The Democrats’ attempt to tie the bill to child predator empowerment has driven many loyal voters away from the party, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Blackburn says she has “no idea” what those Democrats who argued it would result in child predator empowerment are thinking.

“I find it very difficult to believe that protecting girls in sports would have such an adverse effect,” Blackburn said. “Looking at the content of the bill is the best way to argue against it and know that a vast majority of Americans support protecting girls in girls’ sports.”

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.

Controversies over trans athletes competing against women became a key election issue in 2024, as President Donald Trump and Republicans down ballot all vowed to take action to prevent it.

The GOP has indicated it will make good on its promise very early, as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act was the very first bill introduced to the 119th Congress. Blackburn plans to advocate strongly for the bill once it reaches the Senate, where the Republican majority and some Democrats are expected to pass it on to the White House for Trump to sign it into law.

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However, Blackburn is not stopping there. She is also introducing three other proposals to tackle the issue on both a legislative and cultural level.

The Tennessee Senator has introduced a resolution calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to revoke its transgender student-athlete eligibility policy, alongside Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.

NCAA President Charlie Baker faced questions and criticism from Republican lawmakers for these policies during a congressional hearing on Dec. 17. Baker repeatedly cited federal law and recent rulings of federal courts that have enabled it. Blackburn and Steube’s resolution would force Baker and the NCAA to follow a new precedent instead.

Blackburn is also introducing a bill to assess and prevent violence against women in athletics. The Fair Play for Girls Act, which, in addition to keeping women’s sports for females, would “require the U.S. Attorney General to submit an analysis of violence against women in athletics to Congress.”

“We have talked with different women who have had adverse impacts,” Blackburn said. “This would require the attorney general to do an analysis and look at what is happening in the world of sports with women and to women and then looking at where there are impediments to fair competition for the girls, where there are occurrences of girls losing opportunities because a girl has joined their team or is playing in their league, and then also to look at harassment against women and girls in athletics.”

Blackburn is even looking to have a conscious protection of women and girls in sports ingrained into American culture with a resolution declaring Oct. 10 as “American Girls in Sports Day,” which Senate Democrats blocked last Congress.

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The date, Oct. 10, which translates to XX in Roman numerals, is meant to reference the XX chromosomes that determine female gender at birth.

“It would just be teams and schools celebrating their teams and treating it as a time for schools to give the opportunities to coaches to girls who have excelled in different sports, I think it would be a source of encouragement to more young girls to participate in sports,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn’s legislative proposals have been endorsed by Riley Gaines, Jennifer Sey, Caitlyn Jenner, Sage Steele, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Parents Defending Education Action and Independent Women’s Forum.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

January 23, 2025