WASHINGTON – On Friday, a split Supreme Court decided to uphold previous court decisions that block updates to sex discrimination policies in schools across numerous states while the new protections for transgender students under Title IX face legal challenges.

The Biden administration recently submitted an urgent request, claiming that the court’s rulings were overly broad and that several updates should take effect as originally planned on August 1.

However, states led by the GOP and conservative organizations disputing the new regulations argued that the provisions are interconnected and cannot be easily separated.

“Schools would have to figure out how to implement the Rule without its essential parts, revise their policies, and train their staff by next week—only to repeat the process after the judicial review,” said legal representatives for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which supports a Louisiana school board.

Five conservative justices of the court supported the states, while Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the three liberal justices in opposition.

The majority opinion stated that the administration failed to demonstrate that the contested provisions could be easily distinguished from the other requirements.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the dissenting side, argued that the states did not adequately justify why blocking the entire update was essential.

In April, the Biden administration finalized significant revisions to the rules, asserting that Title IX extends protections to LGBTQ+ students.

The revisions also provide protections for students who are pregnant and reverse guidelines from the Trump administration regarding the handling of sexual harassment and assault cases in educational institutions, which had favored accused individuals.

These rules apply to K-12 schools and colleges receiving federal funding, as per the 1972 civil rights law initially designed to protect women from educational discrimination.

The changes faced immediate legal challenges from conservative groups and 26 states.

Critics contend that the Biden administration is attempting to redefine “sex” in federal legislation to include “gender identity.”

“The rule implements a contentious perspective on `gender identity,’ mandates schools to adjust their policies to comply, and threatens noncompliance with the loss of substantial federal funding,” legal representatives for Tennessee and other opposing states stated in a court filing.

The administration contended that the injunctions from the courts should only affect provisions that permit transgender students to use facilities that align with their gender identity and that prohibit harassment based on gender identity.

“Those provisions involve significant issues that will require further court examination, and possibly this court’s intervention in the usual course,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar articulated in her request for the court to allow the remaining updates to proceed.

Organizations supporting students who are pregnant or new parents requested that protections for these groups be enforced. These protections include requirements for schools to provide lactation spaces and reasonable accommodations such as larger desks and excused absences for prenatal appointments.

However, courts have prohibited all updates from being implemented across 26 states, as well as at hundreds of colleges and thousands of K-12 institutions, while the legal battles continue.

This ongoing legal controversy has led to a variety of standards in place, with some institutions following the regulations of the Trump administration, while others comply with those established during Biden’s tenure.

For those institutions expected to follow the new rules, the Education Department has recommended that they revise their nondiscrimination policies and ensure that accommodations are available for students to access restrooms in accordance with their gender identity.