One of the many bills congressional Republicans are blocking is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would ensure that pregnant workers can get the simple adjustments—a stool to sit on, a bottle of water—they need to be able to do their jobs and protect their health. So, like the minimum wage and other basic protections for workers,
some states are stepping in: Delaware is in the process of passing a Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, following Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, West Virginia, Illinois, and several cities in passing such laws—often unanimously or with strong bipartisan support—over the past 18 months.
California and Hawaii already have laws that guarantee reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers. And similar bills are pending in several states—including Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin—and the District of Columbia. Many laws also include provisions that guarantee reasonable accommodations to support breastfeeding, ensuring that workers can have breaks and dedicated space to pump breast milk.
The good news is, this list of states means that many American women are protected if their pregnancies require reasonable accommodations on the job. But, given the bipartisan support these laws are attracting in the states, why isn't Congress moving on a federal law? (Yes, that's kind of a rhetorical question.)
Emily Martin, vice president and senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center, said polls show that a majority of voters favor policies that support families. Yet, as she and others have been lobbying for a pregnant worker fairness bill, they have not been able to drum up a single Republican supporter.
“There isn’t any articulated opposition from Republican offices. And giving workers a stool rather than making them stand all day – it’s very hard to articulate why you’re against that,” she said. “A lot of staff smile and nod and say that this makes a lot of sense, then we never hear from them again.”
Go figure. Republicans, who want to make it harder for women to avoid pregnancy by attacking contraceptive coverage and who want to make sure women stay pregnant if abortion is the alternative, won't support requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations to help pregnant women protect their health on the job. Remember that next time the media is taking Republican claims of concern for the health of pregnant women at face value.