The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed a rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed into law in 2022. The law's language requires employers to make "reasonable accommodations" for women based on limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. The text does not mention abortion, but the EEOC's rule would interpret abortion as a "related medical condition."
“The Biden administration has gone rogue,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, the lead Republican co-sponsor of the PWFA.
“These regulations completely disregard legislative intent and attempt to rewrite the law by regulation. The Biden administration has to enforce the law as passed by Congress, not how they wish it was passed. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is aimed at assisting pregnant mothers who remain in the workforce by choice or necessity as they bring their child to term and recover after childbirth. The decision to disregard the legislative process to inject a political abortion agenda is illegal and deeply concerning.”
Representatives Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Mary Miller (R-IL) wrote a letter to EEOC chair Charlotte Burrows to demand that the EEOC rewrite the rule.
“The proposed rule defines ‘related medical conditions’ to include ‘use of birth control, menstruation, infertility and fertility treatments, [and] endometriosis,’ among other treatments and conditions,” Reps. Foxx and Miller’s letter reads. “By including treatments and conditions such as these, the proposed rule stretches its interpretation of the PWFA past the breaking point. As explained above, Congress intended the PWFA to address commonplace workplace needs of pregnant workers, such as access to water, additional bathroom breaks, or provision of a stool or chair.”
