☕ Good morning. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Equality Act tomorrow. This bill poses a serious threat to the future of female athletics. Independent Women's Forum is hosting a national press call today at 4:00pm ET to discuss the rising threat to women's sports: from the Equality Act to President Biden's executive order, female athletics are in greater jeopardy than ever before.
- 🏅We'll be joined by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), Mississippi State Senator Angela Hill, three-time Olympian Inga Thompson, and decorated track athletes Selina Soule and Linnea Saltz. Learn more.
Larger Picture: In today's Wall Street Journal, IWF Senior Policy Analyst Inez Stepman writes, "All people are created equal, but Congress is considering a bill that would make some people more equal than others." H.R.5, the so-called Equality Act, defines "sex" as synonymous with gender identity irrespective context or situation. "By erasing sex as a distinct legal category, the measure threatens to open up female-only spaces as opportunities designed to increase representation for girls to biological men, which can endanger the safety of women and girls." Keep reading.
- Taking a meat cleaver to accomplish work better left to a scalpel: The Equality Act is so broad that even some supporters of the measure who understand the damage it will cause—including tennis legend Martina Navratilova—have asked Congress to carve out exceptions. Go deeper.
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Taking it too far... The National Organization for Women emailed supporters urging them to help pass the Equality Act. Like the many other progressive groups that operate under the women’s banner, they want to move toward a society where women are no longer recognized as legally distinct from men and where female-only spaces are expressly forbidden. Read more.
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"In postmodern thought, language is believed to have enormous power to control society and how we think and thus is inherently dangerous."
— Helen Pluckrose, Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody
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 Just In
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California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB 467 last week to ban all fracking in California by 2027. While California is not a major producer of natural gas, banning fracking in the state will only make their energy grid even more unreliable. Fracking has also allowed natural gas to overcome coal as the leading source of power in the U.S., helping to reduce emissions while keeping energy costs affordable.
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 Spotlight
- School Choice, Courage Will Help Minority Kids Triumph Over Pandemic Read this story.
- Iran Is Not Participating in Any ‘Fictional’ Nuclear Deal From 2015 Watch the video.
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As this coronavirus pandemic has continued to drag on, many different paid leave plans have been proposed, including federal paid leave.
Can you identify which of the following is not true about paid leave?
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A. A majority of workers already have paid leave benefits.
B. A federal program would raise taxes and reduce wages for poorer workers.
C. Women would be particularly helped by a federal program.
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 She Thinks Podcast
- New Episode: Hear Angela Sailor, vice president of the Feulner Institute at The Heritage Foundation, discuss why American values are unifying for ALL Americans regardless of background, gender, or race. Listen to it here.
Or catch the episode on your favorite podcast app:    
- Next Episode: IWF President Carrie Lukas discusses this month’s policy focus on avoiding paid leave pitfalls, Friday (2/26) at 9am ET. Listen to it here.
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 Trending Now
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IWF's Samantha Dravis in Townhall: Biden’s Electric Vehicle Mandate Won’t Improve Environmental Outcomes—but Will Raise Energy Costs Share this story.
IWF's Naomi Schaefer Riley in Bloomberg: K-12 Education Will Never Be the Same After COVID-19 Share this story.
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While not widespread, in certain areas of the country, drones are being used to deliver prescriptions and to transport medical samples between labs. Despite safety rules, some policymakers are concerned. How do we keep the air space safe for commercial airlines and lower flying helicopters? And what happens if there is a collision between drones flying in the air?
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President Joe Biden ran for president as the anti-Trump, and his initial executive actions reflect that. On immigration, he has reversed or suspended a number of Trump policies—including the border wall and the “Remain in Mexico” program for asylum seekers—and announced a 100-day deportation freeze that applies even to violent criminals. And we're increasingly seeing Democrats embrace extreme positions.
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CHAMPION MESSAGE
