Requests by the federal government to vacate injunctions over the Biden administration’s controversial Title IX rule have been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Friday 5-4 ruling means the injunctions preventing implementation of the new rule in 26 states will be allowed to remain in force until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals takes up the case in October.
The opinion said the court couldn’t unhitch the majority of the new rule from the challenged provisions that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to Title IX. Proponents of keeping Title IX as originally intended in 1972 celebrated the win, and reminded the fight continues until a final ruling.
In the unsigned decision, the majority said, “On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her partial dissent that “every Member of the Court agrees” that the states are entitled to an injunction until the case is decided.
Attorneys general from Louisiana and West Virginia praised the ruling.
“The Supreme Court sees that the Title IX revisions being pushed by the Biden administration would have ended sex-based protections for biological women in locker rooms, bathrooms, sports and elsewhere, plain and simple,” West Virginia Attorney General Morrisey said in a release. “This radical agenda from this administration is a retreat from the progress women have made.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who brought one of several lawsuits against the new rule, also celebrated the decision.
“I’m grateful that the Supreme Court agreed not to block our injunction against this radical rewrite of Title IX,” Murrill said. “Other than the 19th Amendment guaranteeing our right to vote, Title IX has been the most successful law in history at ensuring equal opportunity for women in education at all levels and in collegiate athletics.
“This fight isn’t over, but I’ll keep fighting to block this radical agenda that eviscerates Title IX.”
