The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) have filed an agreement in the matter of Christian Employers Alliance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which the EEOC relieved the CEA of their obligations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to provide employees who are seeking an abortion with reasonable workplace accommodations. The EEOC’s own regulations clearly cover workers’ ability to request reasonable accommodations related to abortion and other ‘pregnancy-related conditions’ like IVF.
The following is a statement from Inimai Chettiar, President of A Better Balance:
“As attacks on women’s reproductive choice continue to escalate, we are disappointed, but not surprised, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sided with the Christian Employers Alliance in federal court, relieving many large Christian employers of their obligation to protect employees seeking an abortion. The regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act clearly cover workers’ ability to receive reasonable accommodations for ‘pregnancy-related conditions’, which has long been interpreted to include abortion as well as other essential reproductive healthcare like IVF. We will continue to fight to keep the regulations for the PWFA intact and as strong as possible as the EEOC appears poised to reopen them and potentially narrow the scope of the law.”