Petersen, Montenegro Await SCOTUS ‘Save Women’s Sports’ Outcome

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a pair of pivotal cases today that could determine the future of state laws restricting transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s school sports — decisions that will have direct implications for Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act, currently blocked by a federal court order.

At 11:00 a.m. local time, Arizona Speaker Steve Montenegro and Republican legislative leaders will hold a news conference at the Arizona State Capitol, reaffirming their support for the law and urging the high Court to uphold the state’s authority over athletic eligibility rules. The news release announcing the event noted that the Supreme Court is “considering companion cases from Idaho and West Virginia addressing whether states may limit participation in girls’ and women’s athletics to biological females.” It added that the rulings are expected to directly affect Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act, which remains blocked as applied to two transgender athletes.

Arizona’s statute, formally adopted in 2022 as Senate Bill 1165, prohibits individuals from participating in public school athletics teams that do not align with their biological sex. The law was enacted amid concerns among supporters about competitive fairness and student safety. However, the state’s attorney general declined to defend the law in Court, prompting Republican legislative leaders to intervene to keep its defense alive.

A federal court and the Ninth Circuit acknowledged Arizona’s stated interests, but left the statute blocked as applied to two transgender athletes in the underlying case — Doe v. Horne. That case remains stayed while the Supreme Court hears the Idaho and West Virginia appeals. The Arizona Legislature’s own petition for review is also pending before the Court.

Today’s arguments consolidate legal issues from two state-level laws — Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act and West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act, both of which bar transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. Opponents argue these measures violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and federal Title IX provisions that prohibit sex discrimination in education. Proponents insist the laws preserve fair competition in women’s athletics.

The cases bring to the High Court the first direct judicial confrontation over state transgender athlete bans. Federal courts had blocked both laws, but the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, which has upheld various restrictions on transgender rights in other contexts, could reach a different conclusion.

Senate President Warren Petersen is in Washington for today’s arguments, according to a January 9 news release from the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus, which states that Petersen is “traveling to Washington, DC…to be present at the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments” in the Idaho and West Virginia cases.

The release stated that Petersen “moved to defend the law,” including sitting “for hours of deposition” as the Legislature pressed the case forward and positioned it alongside similar litigation nationwide.

Arizona lawmakers also filed amicus briefs supporting Idaho and West Virginia—an effort the Senate GOP described as part of Arizona’s broader push to preserve sex-based eligibility rules in girls’ sports.

Walking into the US Supreme Court this morning for oral arguments on the Save Women's Sports Act full of faith and confidence that common sense and justice will prevail.

Protect women's sports. Protect fairness. Protect our daughters. #SaveWomensSports pic.twitter.com/ALT4ypJ6py

— Warren Petersen (@votewarren) January 13, 2026