President Trump has tapped Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Department of Labor — and already, that nomination is raising questions, as Chavez-DeRemer would have the potential to impact abortion policies as related to U.S. employment.
A pro-union Republican, Chavez-DeRemer admitted on the questionnaire which will be given to senators that she previously worked for Planned Parenthood — though she claimed that now, she does not “personally” support abortion.
“This brief, part-time job from over three decades [ago] has no bearing on my support for implementing President Trump’s pro-life agenda,” she wrote. “During my time in the House I had a 100% pro-life voting record. I personally do not support abortion, and if confirmed, I would not use my position as Secretary to facilitate abortion access in Labor Department programs. My job will be to implement President Trump’s agenda.”
According to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Chavez-DeRemer has a “B” voting record, voting against pro-life policies on multiple occasions. This includes opposing bills codifying the Hyde Amendment, banning the FDA from removing safety regulations from abortion pills or sending them through the mail, and restoring Risk Evaluation and Mitigation System (REMS) safety requirements for mifepristone (the abortion pill) to their previous 2016 status — before the Obama administration took the first step towards weakening them.
A “personally pro-life” position is vague and problematic, given that it is difficult to know whether Chavez-DeRemer is fully pro-life (for everyone’s children, who are equally valuable), or that she falls into the camp of being “personally” pro-life only, opposing laws that would protect other people’s preborn children.
This is of utmost importance; while the Labor Department may seem unrelated to abortion, there are several policies that she will have influence over, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act (PWFA).
Currently, FMLA includes “incapacity related to pregnancy,” which — under a pro-abortion Labor secretary — could easily be manipulated to include abortion. Additionally, under the Biden administration, the PWFA was warped to include protections for abortion, with new rules implemented in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that allow abortion to be listed as a medical condition for which employees can request workplace accommodations.
Chavez-DeRemer is trying to position herself as being pro-life, but there are many questions that need to be addressed before her confirmation.
