The new rules “clarify that sex discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity,” the federal government said at the time.
The rules also prohibit “discriminating” against a woman for choosing to have an abortion, specifically requiring that schools treat pregnancy and “related conditions” like “any other temporary medical condition,” including giving excused absences for a woman who misses class to have an abortion.
The professors noted in their filing that Texas prohibits abortion in all cases except where a mother’s life is threatened or she faces serious bodily harm.
The federal government in its Title IX directive “purports to preempt Texas’ laws by requiring its schools to protect actions that would otherwise violate state law,” the plaintiffs said.
The “plain language” of Title IX rules, the professors argued, does not include “issues of pregnancy discrimination,” nor does it “require professors to accommodate students who skip class to obtain abortions,” they argued.
More broadly, the federal government’s new rules “fundamentally rewrite Title IX’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination,” the professors said, saying they are “vague and overbroad” in how they qualify sexual harassment.
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