U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) received a bevy of support from women's rights organizations as the Senate prepares to vote on his bill preserving Title IX protections for female athletes by prohibiting biological men from competing in women's sports.

Tuberville's Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed the House with bipartisan support in January. However, the bill failed three times to gain any traction in the previously Democrat-controlled Senate. However, with President Donald Trump's Keeping Men Out of Women Sports executive order, which is virtually identical to Tuberville's bill, the chances of it passing the finish line this year are very high.

Democratic opposition in the Senate is expected to be high, and sources with knowledge of the vote anticipate a cloture motion to push for the final vote.

The legislation would define a person's sex based on their biological sex at birth when applying Title IX code, the sweeping name given to civil rights legislation prohibiting sex-based education discrimination. It would also remove federal funding from schools that allow biological men in female-only spaces.

The bill has received broad support from conservatives and conservative groups. On Monday, Independent Women (IW), the women's advocacy group with multiple arms for advocacy and education, reiterated their support for Tuberville's bill and called on Senate members to vote "yay."

"Independent Women has been proud to help bring us to this moment—when 80% of Americans solidly support laws to keep women's sports female," said IW president Carrie Lukas. "Groups across the political spectrum are now regularly calling for policymakers to stand up and protect women's rights and the safety and dreams of female athletes. I hope Senate Democrats, indeed all senators, will listen to female athletes today and stand up in support of fairness and common sense."

Last month, IW ambassadors and female athletes who have been directly impacted by the male takeover of female sports joined President Trump for the signing of his executive order.

"This bill is necessary to bolster Title IX's protection for women and girls in athletics," said IW senior legal advisor Beth Parlato. "We saw the previous administration completely demolish the intent of Title IX by requiring men to invade women's private spaces and sports, and it's imperative this never happens again. Legally, the only way to preserve Title IX's protections for women and insulate them from endless litigation is to codify into law that 'sex' clearly means 'reproductive biology and genetics at birth.' It is essential that sex-based distinctions become the law of the land to prevent being superseded by future EO's, policies, rules, or regulations."

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