NPR sparks backlash by disputing that trans athletes have an advantage over females: 'The science is clear'

National Public Radio (NPR) issued a correction after downplaying the biological differences between males and females, in reference to a story about a group banning biological male athletes from female competitions.  

The publication wrote on Twitter earlier this week, "The international governing body for track and field will ban trans women athletes from elite women's competitions, citing a priority for fairness over inclusion, despite limited scientific research involving elite trans athletes."

But moments later, it issued a correction. 

"Existing research shows that higher levels of testosterone do impact athletic performance. But there's limited research involving elite trans athletes in competition," it added. 

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This comes as the debate over transgender athletics continues to take a global spotlight. Responding to the correction, Olympic rower and orthopedic surgeon Mary O'Connor warned female sports are "already" compromised during "Fox & Friends First."

"This is compromising women's sports already, and it's just going to increase that compromise, and it also sends the wrong message to our children, which is basically it says that fairness and competition matters for males, but it doesn't matter for females," O'Connor told Ashley Strohmier and Todd Piro on Wednesday. 

"And so our girls grow up feeling that they are somehow less valuable, less worthy. They don't deserve fair competition, and then what do our sons think?" she questioned. "This creates this culture where we're not seeing ourselves as equal, although we are different because men and women, males and females are different."

The tweet comes in reference to a report on the World Athletics Council's decision to ban biological male athletes from competing against women earlier this month. 

NPR cited a 2020 Human Rights Watch report that argued the decision was based on flawed evidence.

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"Even without strong evidence of an advantage, the council has scrutinized the performance of athletes such as South African runner Caster Semenya, the world’s fastest woman in the 800 meters," NPR reported.

"Semenya, who was raised female and is legally female, was born with XY chromosomes and has a naturally high testosterone level," the outlet added.

The original tweet by NPR generated immediate pushback and ridicule, with Twitter users fact-checking the article and citing studies on the biological differences between men and women. 

But O'Connor reiterated key biological differences in men and women, arguing that males have the upper hand physically when competing in women's sports. 

Even when male athletes turn to hormonal drugs that suppress testosterone levels, those remedies do not necessarily level the playing field, she argued. 

"One of the things that's important for us to recognize is that the sex differences between males and females actually start in utero," O'Connor explained. "And then, of course, at puberty, those changes are accelerated in males because of testosterone, and so males are bigger and stronger, but they also have greater heart and lung capacity and stronger bones."

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World Athletics previously mandated that biological males who identify as women maintain their testosterone levels below a certain level for at least a year to compete against biological women, according to the BBC.

But this decision was walked back to conduct further research. 

O'Connor reiterated that hormone therapy does not make men and women biologically equal, arguing the "science is clear" that males have an undeniable biological advantage. 

"There is absolutely a physical advantage. There's no question the science is clear," O'Connor said. 

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos and Jon Brown contributed to this report.