FIRST IN THE DAILY SIGNAL: Republican congresswomen are calling on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to revise its proposed rule allowing for abortions to be covered under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
In a letter first obtained by The Daily Signal, Reps. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Mary Miller of Illinois wrote to EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte Burrows that the proposed rule, “Regulations to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act,” defines “‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’ to include ‘having or choosing not to have an abortion.’”
The EEOC must not include abortion in the final rule, the congresswomen warned.
“Abortion is not a medical condition related to pregnancy; it is the opposite,” the letter said. “It terminates the pregnancy, tragically ending the life of an unborn child. Similarly, abortion is not related to childbirth; it ends the possibility of childbirth.”
“Either Chair Burrows and the entirety of the EEOC have misplaced their reading glasses, or they simply do not have a grasp on the English language,” Foxx told The Daily Signal. “Nowhere in the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act are there provisions that allow abortions and abortion services to be put in the express lane. The EEOC better stay in its own lane, respect congressional intent, and issue a final rule that’s in direct alignment with statutory text.”
“The Biden administration is committed to betraying the sanctity of life by pushing policies that undermine the rights of the unborn,” Miller added. “As the mother of seven children and grandmother of 20, I am deeply committed to defending life. I will continue to fight against the Biden administration and the radical abortion industry to protect vulnerable children from the pro-abortion agenda from the Left.”
The letter reminds the EEOC that Congress chose not to include the term “abortion” or “abortion services” in the original law.
“EEOC cannot add such a controversial provision to the law that Congress omitted,” the congresswomen wrote. “The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization holding there is no constitutional right to an abortion was handed down a mere six months before the PWFA was enacted. Congress was well aware of the ongoing national debate over abortion and could have included the term in the law if it so chose. Its absence speaks volumes.”
They argue that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will help “ensure pregnant workers receive reasonable, practical accommodations in the workplace.”
“As such, EEOC’s final rule on the PWFA must conform with the statutory text and congressional intent,” the letter said. “This would include removing abortion from the rule. The rule must also be workable for employers who will have to implement it. We look forward to EEOC making substantial changes to the proposed rule so that the final rule does not go beyond the text of the PWFA and can be reasonably implemented by employers.”
The EEOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Signal.
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