The Family Policy Council of WV is deeply disappointed by Senator Shelley Moore Capito’s decision to quietly kill critical legislation protecting women’s sports by failing to show up for a key Senate vote.
The bill would have strengthened Title IX by clearly affirming that participation in women’s athletics is based on biological sex, ensuring fairness and safety for female athletes. While 51 Republicans stood and voted in favor of protecting women’s sports, the measure fell short of the votes needed to advance, due in part to Senator Capito being one of only two Republicans absent from the vote.
Senator Capito has offered no explanation for her failure to appear. As a member of Senate Republican leadership, her unexplained absence was not only conspicuous, but consequential. By choosing silence over action, she effectively helped Democrats block a bill supported by the vast majority of the Republican Party and by countless parents, female athletes, and advocates across West Virginia.
This decision coincides with Senator Capito’s vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, further signaling her willingness to buy into LGBTQ ideology at the expense of biological reality and long-standing protections for families, women, and children. Taken together, these actions raise serious concerns about her ability to serve and the ideological proclivities that produces her decisions.
The Family Policy Council of WV will continue to speak out and hold elected officials accountable when they choose ‘woke’ policies over protecting our children. West Virginians deserve leaders who will show up, vote clearly, and defend common-sense protections for women and families without opposing necessary legislation and hiding behind procedural silence.
