Presidential Hopeful Noem Threatens Veto; Urge Her to Fully Protect
Girls' Sports!

 

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has garnered a lot of attention over
the last year - much of it for praiseworthy stands that she has
taken. So it was disappointing that after initially promising to
quickly sign a South Dakota bill that would keep biological boys out
of girls' sports, she has suddenly changed her mind and
announced that she plans to veto big parts of it.

It's no secret that Gov. Noem has national aspirations, so
it's time she hears from a national audience. Would you ask Gov.
Noem to fully protect girls' sports by retracting her veto
threat and signing the bill?

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Last night, she took to Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, where
she attempted to defend her new position by saying that she needed to
accommodate the NCAA to avoid a lawsuit. She claimed she
wouldn't be bullied by the NCAA, yet she already gave in to them
without a fight. She likewise derided "conservatives on the
right" whom she accused of also trying to bully her.

But what would Gov. Noem's partial veto actually do? Her action
would significantly weaken the legislation in three ways:

1. Her promised veto removes the enforcement mechanism. It leaves
no avenue for a parent or female athlete to take legal action
against a liberal school district that decides to ignore the
law.
 
2. Second, it removes college sports - a giant omission
- because of the threat of an NCAA lawsuit and her fear
of losing out on hosting conference championships.

3. Third, it would force reliance on birth certificates for
determining who is eligible to participate in girls'
sports. Since it's possible in South Dakota for someone
to change their gender on their birth certificate, this
determination method would leave a gaping loophole.

Frankly, her veto would also be unconstitutional. The South Dakota
constitution allows the governor to make "style and form"
changes, but her veto removes half of the language.

In addition, legal experts who have been engaged on this issue believe
that her changes would actually make it MORE likely that the law would
lose in a legal challenge - due to the inconsistency between
policies for high school and college athletes.

Thankfully, it's not too late to encourage Gov. Noem to go ahead
and sign the original bill.

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Thanks for speaking up!



John Paulton
Mobilization Manager




 
 

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