Viewpoint: Republicans Continue to Negatively Affect those who are Pregnant
Jill Filipovic. Although many individuals who disagree politically about abortion may think we can agree on supporting people during and after pregnancy, that's not the case.
This is evident from the 17 anti-abortion Republican attorneys general who are currently challenging the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This law provides several considerations and accommodations for pregnant and post-pregnant women whose employers have at least 15 workers. These accommodations and considerations include providing seating, ensuring adequate bathroom breaks, and allowing time off for prenatal appointments.
However, these Republicans take issue with the law requiring employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" for "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." They object to the idea of granting women time off for abortions, which is a pregnancy-related procedure.
It's important to clarify that this law doesn't offer any paid leave for anything – not pregnancy, not childbirth, not miscarriage, and certainly not abortion. The law doesn't require employers to pay for anything or make accommodations that are overly burdensome. It simply aims to prevent workplace discrimination against women during pregnancy, a condition that will affect most American women.
This law states that if a worker is unable to carry out a specific work task due to a pregnancy-related condition, and that inability is temporary (since pregnancy isn't permanent), then the employer must make reasonable accommodations for that worker. This could include allowing a pregnant bank teller to sit instead of stand, ensuring a pregnant healthcare assistant can take a bathroom break when needed, granting an abortion appointment for a pregnant paralegal during their afternoon break, or waiving a paid day off for a pregnant worker to have or recover from an abortion if it's not excessively troublesome for the employer.
All 17 attorneys general represent Republican states, most of which have banned abortion. Some of the women requesting time off for abortions may be those whose pregnancies have severe issues requiring lifesaving abortions. However, others might need to travel out of state or self-induce at home. The Republican attorneys general who oppose the law want to make these situations even more difficult. However, it's crucial to note that this federal law also applies to states where abortion remains legal, and they don't want women in those states to receive accommodations either.
The lawsuit argues that elective abortions "are not themselves 'medical conditions' arising from pregnancy, but instead voluntary procedures that terminate pregnancy." However, prenatal appointments, scans, and scheduled C-sections are also not medical conditions arising from pregnancy, and are often optional (though prenatal care and scans are recommended, and C-sections are sometimes necessary). Breastfeeding is a common and recommended practice, but it is not a requirement for a successful pregnancy or a healthy child.
In essence, this is an effort by Republicans to further damage women seeking abortions. Consider a woman who doesn't wish to continue her pregnancy. On average, these women are low-income, unmarried, in their twenties, and already have children, according to the New York Times. Around half of women who terminate their pregnancies in America live below the poverty level (with only one in ten Americans generally living below the poverty level according to the US Census Bureau).
These struggling single mothers, who often have ridiculous conversations with their bosses about the need for an unpaid day off for a stigmatized medical procedure, are targeted by these attorneys general. Instead of supporting them, these attorneys general want to make the situation harder by allowing employers to discriminate against them.
Most women who request time off for abortions likely don't share the reason with their employers. But they should not face discriminatory treatment. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act aims to prevent such discrimination.
Republicans maintain that they're not anti-women and are only 'pro-life'. However, it's challenging to understand how these accommodations increase abortion rates. It's more about making it slightly harder for women seeking an abortion by adding more shame, humiliation, and difficulty to the process. It's unfortunate that Republicans don't seem willing to offer women even a little workplace protection, unless they can stigmatize abortion and hinder women even further.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
