A law to ‘fill the gaps’ in protecting pregnant employees may include abortion

A new law meant to ensure pregnant women have adequate protections in the workplace has taken effect. However, there are concerns the act could be construed to include accommodations for abortions.

HR 1065 — the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) — took effect on June 27, mandating that employers give “reasonable accommodations” to pregnant women, or employees needing those accommodations due to childbirth or childbirth-related medical conditions.

“The PWFA is the culmination of a 10-year-long campaign to close gaps in civil rights laws so pregnant workers are not pushed out of jobs or forced to risk their health when they require reasonable accommodations on the job, like a water bottle to stay hydrated or a transfer away from strenuous heavy lifting,” Elizabeth Gedmark of A Better Balance, an advocacy group for pregnant women, told CBS MoneyWatch.

However, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has created a legal resource for women suing their employers for failing to accommodate their abortions under the PWFA. According to Catholic Vote, “The organization’s new Abortion Defense Network will provide ‘legal advice, information, risk analysis, and criminal and civil representation to individuals who are targeted because of their involvement with abortion.’ NWLC’s Director of the Abortion Access Legal Defense Fund Noel Leon detailed the group’s intentions in a webinar on April 13 for pro-abortion advocates.”

Gaylynn Burroughs, Director of Workplace Equality for the NWLC, noted during that webinar that “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions … has long been understood to include abortion.” PWFA does not define the phrase “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” leaving it open for interpretation in favor of abortion accommodations, as NWLC hopes.

Women have been openly discussing pregnancy discrimination in recent years, with companies like Google, Nike, UPS, and Planned Parenthood all accused of treating their pregnant employees unfairly. According to Forbes, even just the possibility of being pregnant can lead to recrimination from employers.

The PWFA will fill in the legal gap between the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). A report published last year by the National Partnership for Women and Families found that this could positively affect as many as 2.8 million families. The accommodations required will be published by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and are expected to include things like flexible hours, more access to bathroom and water breaks, the option to sit during jobs that require long periods of standing, closer parking spots, access to uniforms and safety apparel that will fit a pregnant woman’s body as it changes, and being excused from potentially dangerous job activities, like heavy lifting or interacting with dangerous chemicals. It remains to be seen if the EEOC will include abortion as an accommodation.

A joint report between A Better Balance and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance also suggests that the PWFA could help lower the racial disparities in maternal and infant health.

“We have heard from workers who say they were put in that impossible position of choosing between a paycheck and a healthy pregnancy,” Gedmark said. “The problem for physically demanding workplaces was it can be difficult to identify someone else being treated the way you need to be treated. Employers can treat everyone poorly and someone would then have to risk their health.”

It’s estimated that 75% of women in the workplace will be pregnant at some point during their career; it is hoped that the PWFA will give women better security, and keep them from feeling that they have to choose between their work and their family.

“What it means is millions of women who want to keep working, who need to keep working to feed their children [and] pay their rent will be able to,” ACLU senior legislative counsel Vania Leveille told CBS MoneyWatch. “It means they can go to their employer and say: ‘I’m pregnant and I want to keep working, I can keep working, but I need this little modification.’ The employer can no longer say, ‘Too bad, you’re fired’ or ‘You have to go on unpaid leave’ or ‘We don’t have to discuss this.'”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with the correct enactment date of the Act and with more details about what it could allow.