The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finalized rules to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act on Monday, including a provision that protects abortion as a “related medical condition” to pregnancy.
Along with other provisions that align with the intent of a bill that passed with bipartisan support, the new rule means employers could be required to provide leave to accommodate women getting abortions.
“Adding this controversial provision into the PWFA is wrong. Period. Abortion is not a medical condition related to pregnancy; it is the opposite,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who has been vocal about her opposition to the abortion provision, said in a statement on Monday. “Leave it to the Biden administration to think terminating a pregnancy and ending the life of an unborn child addresses the needs of pregnant workers.”
In the rule, the EEOC said the reason it included abortion is because the terminology “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” used in the bipartisan PWFA has been interpreted to fit the definition established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which included “disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, childbirth, and recovery therefrom.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who was instrumental in getting the original bill passed, said in a Monday statement that the EEOC’s “decision to disregard the legislative process to promote a political agenda is shocking and illegal,” adding that the original intent of the law was to “assist pregnant mothers who remain in the workforce by choice or necessity as they bring their child to term and recover after childbirth.”
“It defies common sense, and Congress’ intent, that EEOC continues to inject abortion into a law specifically aimed at promoting healthy childbirth,” said Cassidy, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. “The Biden administration must enforce the law as passed by Congress, not how they wish it were passed.”
Critics have slammed the inclusion of abortion in a law that was passed without abortion language as the Biden administration trying to “smuggle an abortion mandate into a transformational pro-life, pro-woman law,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Julie Marie Blake said at the time the EEOC first proposed its abortion language.
“This rule also goes well beyond EEOC’s authority. The PWFA was intended to ensure employers provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. The PWFA does not apply to abortions. The term ‘abortion’ is not once mentioned in the law,” Foxx added in her statement. “Instead of following congressional intent, the Biden administration is using the regulatory process to advance radical policy goals. This isn’t surprising given the administration’s predilection for abusing the Constitution.”
Many of the intended protections for pregnant or recently pregnant employees remain in the rule as well, including time off to recover from childbirth or miscarriage, as well as related healthcare appointments and additional breaks and accommodations for restroom use, drinking water, eating, and lactation.
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The rule “gives pregnant workers clear access to reasonable accommodations that will allow them to keep doing their jobs safely and effectively, free from discrimination and retaliation,” EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte A. Burrows said in a press release. “At the EEOC, we have assisted women who have experienced serious health risks and unimaginable loss simply because they could not access a reasonable accommodation on the job.”
“This final rule provides important information and guidance to help employers meet their responsibilities and to jobseekers and employees about their rights,” Burrows continued.