17 States Sue Over Rule Giving Workers Time Off For Abortions

One attorney general said that the EEOC’s revised guidelines were a “radical” interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

 The EEOC’s fresh guidelines are a “radical interpretation” of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, one attorney general claimed. The EEOC’s fresh guidelines are a “radical interpretation” of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, one attorney general claimed. 

One attorney general said that the EEOC’s revised guidelines were a “radical” interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Die Kommission ist befugt, die in Artikel 264 genannten delegierten Rechtsakte zu folgenden Zwecken zu erlassen: Seventeen Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit against a federal agency for implementing a new policy that requires employers to provide time off and other accommodations to pregnant workers seeking abortions. The lawsuit is spearheaded by the attorneys general of Arkansas and Tennessee and challenges the regulations recently finalized by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Even though conservatives objected, the EEOC decided to include abortion as one of the pregnancy-related situations that employers are required to accommodate. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin stated that according to this extreme interpretation of the PWFA, business owners could be sued at a federal level for not accommodating employees’ abortions, even if those abortions are against state law. The intention of the PWFA was to safeguard pregnancies, rather than terminate them. Tennessee’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti stated that the law is specifically meant to support pregnant employees. Arkansas’s Attorney General Tim Griffin is involved in a lawsuit regarding abortion care regulations by the EEOC. This information comes from the Associated Press. He stated in a statement that Congress approved the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is a bipartisan law designed to protect pregnant women and support their health during pregnancy. He also noted that the EEOC’s efforts to reinterpret the law as a mandate for abortion are against the law. Both Arkansas and Tennessee do not require employers to offer paid parental leave. In addition, Griffin and Skrmetti did not discuss the potential consequences for businesses who allow employees time off for an abortion.