The “genital inspection bill” is a label opponents have applied to federal and state legislation restricting transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports. The nickname reflects a concrete worry: some of these bills explicitly authorize physical examination of a student’s reproductive anatomy to verify sex, and others leave enforcement so undefined that critics say invasive exams are a foreseeable result. No single statute carries that name. The phrase is shorthand for a family of proposals, from Congressman Greg Steube’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to state measures in Ohio, Idaho, Indiana, Florida, and Washington.
The Federal Bill Behind the Nickname
Representative Greg Steube of Florida introduced H.R. 28, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, on January 3, 2025, with 56 Republican cosponsors.1U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Reintroduces His Landmark Legislation to Protect Women’s Sports The bill would strip federal funding from schools whose athletic programs allow transgender girls on women’s or girls’ teams, defining sex based on “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”2U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Durbin Speaks Out Against Republicans’ So-Called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act The House passed it 218 to 206 on January 14, 2025. The Senate companion, S. 9, sponsored by Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, failed a procedural vote 51 to 45 on March 4, 2025, short of the 60 needed to advance.3Alabama Daily News. Tuberville’s Bill Barring Transgender Athletes in Women’s Sports Blocked in Senate Vote
H.R. 28’s text does not itself require a genital exam. It also does not prohibit one or specify any verification method. That silence is the source of the nickname. Senator Dick Durbin said the bill “could potentially subject women and girls to physical inspection by an adult if someone from an opposing team accused them of being transgender.”2U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Durbin Speaks Out Against Republicans’ So-Called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan called it a law enabling “physical inspection of young girls’ genitals by adult strangers, without parents present.”4Office of Rep. Jennifer McClellan. McClellan Statement on Voting Against H.R. 28 Representative Susie Lee said it “exposes girls and women to genital exams” and would “make female athletes a ripe target for sexual predators.”5Office of Rep. Susie Lee. Congresswoman Lee Statement on Vote Against Genital Exams for Girls in Sports Steube has framed the bill as a fairness measure, arguing that “men have no place in women’s sports” and that it protects scholarship opportunities.1U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Reintroduces His Landmark Legislation to Protect Women’s Sports
State Bills That Wrote Exams Into the Law
The fear is not hypothetical. Several state proposals have described physical examination of reproductive anatomy in the statutory text itself.
Ohio HB 151
Ohio’s HB 151, sponsored by Republican state Representative Don Jones, required that if a student athlete was “accused” or “suspected” of being transgender, she would have to undergo evaluations of her “external and internal genitalia, testosterone levels and genetic makeup,” followed by a signed physician’s statement confirming her sex.6Ohio Capital Journal. GOP Passes Bill Aiming to Root Out Suspected Transgender Female Athletes With Genital Inspection The language was added as a last-minute amendment to an unrelated education bill and passed the Ohio House 56 to 28 on June 1, 2022.7Ohio House of Representatives. Ohio Republicans Want to Force Children to Undergo Genital Exams to Play High School Sports After criticism, a revised version substituted birth certificate verification, and in December 2022 the House voted down the broader amendment, killing the measure.8Equality Ohio. Advocates and Athletes Celebrate Defeat of HB 151
Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act
Idaho enacted House Bill 500 in 2020, banning transgender women and girls from women’s school sports at all levels. According to the Ninth Circuit, the law subjected female athletes to “invasive sex verification procedures,” which could include pelvic examinations when a student’s sex was disputed.9SCOTUSblog. The Transgender Athlete Cases: An Explainer The ACLU of Idaho and Legal Voice sued, arguing the law subjected all female athletes to “invasive genital and genetic screenings.”10ACLU of Idaho. ACLU, Legal Voice Ask Court to Block Enforcement of Idaho Law Targeting Transgender Student The resulting case, Hecox v. Little, produced a preliminary injunction and has now reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Indiana HB 1041
Indiana HB 1041, extending the state’s transgender athlete ban to collegiate sports, was signed by Governor Eric Holcomb on April 16, 2025.11Indiana General Assembly. House Bill 1041 The law defines biological sex “at birth in accordance with the student’s genetics and reproductive biology” without specifying how sex would be determined in a challenge.12Indiana Public Radio. GOP Kills Amendment to Prohibit Genital Inspections Under Collegiate Transgender Sports Ban Democratic Senator J.D. Ford of Indianapolis introduced an amendment to explicitly prohibit invasive genital inspections of challenged athletes. The Republican-led committee rejected the amendment along party lines.13WFYI Indianapolis. GOP Kills Amendment to Prohibit Genital Inspections Under Collegiate Transgender Sports Ban Given the chance to rule out genital exams by statute, lawmakers declined.
Florida and Washington
Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, signed in June 2021, originally contained provisions requiring testosterone testing, genetic testing, and genital examinations. The final law stripped those elements and instead requires a birth certificate showing the student was designated female at birth.14NPR. On the First Day of Pride Month, Florida Signed a Transgender Athlete Bill Into Law In Washington state, a ballot measure numbered IL26-638, backed by Let’s Go Washington, was certified for the November 2026 ballot. It would require a healthcare provider to verify a student’s biological sex based on “reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels,” leaving the specific method to the provider. Washington pediatricians have warned that current sports physicals do not include blood tests, hormone panels, genetic analysis, or pelvic exams, and that the initiative could create barriers of cost, privacy, and access.15Seattle Times. WA Voters to See Ballot Initiative Aimed at Trans Girls in Sports
The Trump Executive Order
On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing the government to rescind federal funds from educational programs that allow transgender girls and women to compete on women’s teams. It ordered the Department of Education to prioritize Title IX enforcement against noncompliant schools and directed the Secretary of State to pressure the International Olympic Committee to base eligibility on sex rather than gender identity or testosterone levels.16The White House. Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports The order does not specify which funding streams would be withheld or how schools would verify sex. A White House official told NPR the order was not intended as a “ban,” suggesting alternatives like “co-ed open” categories.17NPR. Trump Signs Executive Order on Transgender Athletes
What Sex Verification Actually Involves
The methods lawmakers might reach for vary widely in how invasive they are.
- Physical examination of genitalia is the most invasive approach. It was used at the 1967 Pan-American Games and 1968 Olympics before being abandoned over what medical authorities called the “assault on dignity” it caused. Several U.S. state bills have proposed internal and external genital evaluations.18National Library of Medicine. Sex Verification in Sports
- Chromosomal testing analyzes for XX or XY. Used internationally from the late 1960s through the 1990s, it was found unreliable because it does not account for conditions like androgen insensitivity syndrome. Tests run $1,000 to $2,500.19GLAAD. Harms of Sex Verification Testing
- Hormone analysis measures testosterone in blood or urine, and was used under international “hyperandrogenism regulations” from 2011 through 2023.19GLAAD. Harms of Sex Verification Testing
- SRY gene testing uses a cheek swab or blood test to detect a gene on the Y chromosome. The International Olympic Committee adopted it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” mandatory screening for the female category starting with the LA28 Games, calling it “the most accurate and least intrusive method currently available.” World Athletics adopted the same requirement for elite women’s track and field effective September 1, 2025. Critics including genomics professor Andrew Sinclair have called the method scientifically “misguided” and warned of false positives from sample contamination or rare variations.20International Olympic Committee. IOC Announces New Policy on the Protection of the Female Category21World Athletics. SRY Gene Test for Athletes in Female Category22BBC. World Athletics SRY Gene Testing
- Birth certificate verification is the least invasive method. Florida’s final law adopted it after stripping the original genital and genetic testing provisions.14NPR. On the First Day of Pride Month, Florida Signed a Transgender Athlete Bill Into Law
Where Medical Bodies Stand
The American Medical Association adopted a policy in November 2022 opposing mandatory medical testing, treatment, or surgery for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex traits as a condition of eligibility. The AMA also opposes physician participation in testing or “certifying” an athlete’s sex to satisfy third-party requirements. Board member David H. Aizuss said “unnecessary medical interventions to change natural hormone variations as a prerequisite for athletic competition must not be forced on physicians.” The World Medical Association has called athletic “sex testing” and eligibility rules based on sex traits “unscientific” and “contrary to medical ethics.”23Athlete Ally. Athlete Ally, interACT, NWLC, and NCTE Respond to AMA Inclusive Policy A study of pediatric gender-affirming care specialists found broad provider opposition to sports-restriction laws, with some describing potential genital examinations as traumatic for patients.24National Library of Medicine. Pediatric Provider Perspectives on Transgender Sports Legislation
The Supreme Court Cases That May Decide the Question
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 13, 2026, in two consolidated cases: Little v. Hecox (No. 24-38), challenging Idaho’s HB 500, and West Virginia v. B.P.J. (No. 24-43), challenging a similar West Virginia law.25Oyez. Little v. Hecox26National Constitution Center. Unpacking the Transgender Athletes Case at the Supreme Court The central question is whether a state may require athletes to compete based on biological sex rather than gender identity without violating the Equal Protection Clause.
The Ninth Circuit in the Idaho case found HB 500 discriminated on the basis of both transgender status and sex, the latter because only female athletes were subjected to invasive verification procedures to enforce it.9SCOTUSblog. The Transgender Athlete Cases: An Explainer The Fourth Circuit in the West Virginia case ruled the state law violated both the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX.26National Constitution Center. Unpacking the Transgender Athletes Case at the Supreme Court Decisions are expected by late June 2026, and the Court’s reasoning on equal protection and Title IX will likely shape whether the most invasive verification provisions can survive.