#

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is aimed at ensuring that sports designated for women and girls are reserved exclusively for biological females. It does so in part by requiring schools covered by Title IX regulations to treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

On February 5, President Trump issued an executive order doing the same thing.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll taken in January found Americans overwhelmingly support keeping biological males from competing against females, 79 to 18 percent.

Nonetheless, New Hampshire Democrats continued to oppose the legislation.

Shaheen, 78, has yet to announce if she will seek a fourth term in 2026, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee didn’t waste any time calling her out.

“Today, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) AGAIN voted against banning biological men from competing in women’s sports. Shaheen opposed similar legislation last year. Today’s vote shows she would rather stand with out-of-touch activists in Washington and Hollywood than New Hampshire families,” the NRSC said in a statement.

“Jeanne Shaheen told parents and their daughters that Democrats believe they must play sports and share locker rooms and bathrooms with biological males,” added NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia.

Senators Hassan and Shaheen would not respond to requests for comment from NHJournal, and neither had released a statement about their vote as of late Monday night.

Shaheen is the last incumbent Senator in a swing or competitive seat to announce whether or not she’s running in 2026. A new NHJournal poll found that more than 60 percent of Granite State voters are concerned about her age, and she loses a theoretical head-to-head matchup against former Gov. Chris Sununu by nearly nine points.

Now, she’s embracing a political position that is on the fringe of American politics, a vote she is all but certain to be criticized for if she chooses to run again.

The issue of protecting girls sports is resonating in New Hampshire as several high-profile cases unfold in court.

A group of Bow residents is suing after the school district said they could not wear pink wristbands with “XX” on them to girls’ sports competitions as a silent protest against allowing males to compete.

Two biological males who’ve competed in girls high school sports are challenging New Hampshire’s law banning them from participating on a girls team. They are also suing the Trump administration over his executive order.

And after months of insisting that athletes can decide their sex based on their feelings, the  New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association suddenly — and quietly — reversed course last month.

“The NHIAA Council unanimously voted this week to suspend NHIAA By-Law Article II: Section 21,” the group said.