Seventeen Republican-led states are suing President Joe Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for forcing employers across the country to accommodate worker abortions.
attorney general It has been submitted The lawsuit was filed Friday following the EEOC’s decision. include Abortion under the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA passed with bipartisan support in 2022, but it did not include language regarding abortion. Instead, the law is enacted to provide pregnant and postpartum mothers with reasonable accommodations in the workplace, such as vacation time and flexible breaks, as long as they do not create an unreasonable hardship for the employer. I did.
“This is yet another attempt by the Biden administration to force passage of administrative legislation that cannot pass Congress,” said Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. Said In a statement. “Under this radical interpretation of the PWFA, employers would face federal lawsuits if they do not provide for an employee’s abortion, even if the abortion is illegal under state law. The PWFA would terminate the pregnancy. It was intended to protect the pregnancy, not to protect the child.”
“The new rules were passed by a narrow 3-2 majority of unelected EEOC commissioners and go beyond what Congress authorized under the PWFA,” Griffin added.
When Congress passed the PWFA, it charged the EEOC with issuing the same regulations and providing examples of reasonable accommodations. The EEOC’s final rule includes abortion in its definition for employees with “limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” and the rule applies to public and private businesses with 15 or more employees. Ru.
The EEOC argued that the final rule: “It does not require employees to obtain or refrain from obtaining abortions, it does not require taxpayers to pay for abortions, it does not compel health care providers to provide abortions, and it does not require PWFA to provide abortions. It cannot be used to require employer-sponsored health insurance to pay for or cover certain items, procedures, or treatments, including abortion.
Pro-abortion demonstrators hold a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“Given these restrictions, the type of accommodation most likely to be requested under the PWFA with respect to an abortion is to take time off to attend a medical appointment or to recover. “As with the Act, it does not require accommodation leave to be paid leave, so the leave is unpaid unless the employer’s policy states otherwise,” the agency said.
The attorneys general argue in their lawsuit that including abortion in the PWFA violates the bill’s “pro-family objectives”. The complaint points to statements from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers before the PWFA was passed, stating that the law was not designed to include abortion and that the EEOC used its influence to include abortion in the law’s coverage. It is recognized that this should not be exercised.
For example, Sen. Bob Casey (Pennsylvania), a Democrat and PWFA sponsor, said: “Under the (PWFA), the EEOC cannot enact regulations mandating abortion leave, and the law also does not allow the EEOC to require employers to provide abortions in violation of state law. I haven’t.”
The plaintiffs also argue that states face irreparable harm because of the EEOC’s inclusion of abortion, saying, “If we don’t promote worker abortions, we can’t afford health care services that are illegal under state law.” Even elective abortions of certain pregnancies should face federal lawsuits.
“Despite a flurry of opposition, the EEOC’s final rule includes a requirement for employers to provide abortion accommodations to workers, including in states where abortion is generally prohibited. …The EEOC’s final rule requires coverage of all abortions, even those performed for the sole purpose of terminating a healthy pregnancy and ending the life of a fetus.” The complaint states:
Pro-life supporters march in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ultimately, the attorneys general argue that the rule violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) because the abortion mandate “exceeds the agency’s statutory authority.” They also argue that the rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates federalism, state sovereignty, the First Amendment, and separation of powers rules.
The complaint goes on to say that the EEOC underestimated how much abortion accommodations would cost public and private companies, and that “First Amendment protections extend beyond religious groups to It does not recognize that it extends to all opposing employers, raising potential free exercise issues.” The complaint also argues that an employer cannot deny an employee the use of paid leave for an abortion if the employer normally allows the employee to use paid leave for other reasons.
The Attorney General estimates that this rule broadly includes the following: There are 117 million employees in private employers, 18.8 million in state and local government employees, and 2.3 million in federal employees.
States suing the EEOC include: Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.
The case is Tennessee, etc. AL v. EEOCNo. 2:24-cv-84-DPM, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her at @thekat_Hamilton.
