Federal Judge Overturns Biden-Era EEOC Rule on Abortion Accommodations
A Trump-appointed judge ruled Wednesday that employers are not obligated to provide workers with time off for abortion procedures, striking down a controversial Biden-era regulation.
U.S. District Judge David Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s regulation — implemented during the Biden administration — exceeded its authority by including abortion among pregnancy-related conditions requiring job protections, The Associated Press reported.
The EEOC’s rule implemented the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed in December 2022 with bipartisan support. The law requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide “reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” according to its text.
The rule polarized the public upon its introduction. The EEOC received around 54,000 comments urging the commission not to include abortion in the definition and 40,000 comments calling for the opposite.
Joseph ruled in favor of the plaintiffs — the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University and two Catholic dioceses — that abortions are not considered a “related medical condition” of pregnancy under the PWFA, according to the AP.
“Victory! A federal court has granted Louisiana’s request to strike down an EEOC rule requiring employers to accommodate employees’ purely elective abortions. This is a win for Louisiana and for life!” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told the outlet.
A spokesperson for A Better Balance, a legal advocacy group that supported the PWFA, described the ruling as a part of a “broader attack on women’s rights and reproductive freedom,” according to the AP.
The Trump administration is unlikely to appeal the ruling, the AP reported, but the administration has defended the PWFA itself in a lawsuit brought by the Texas that seeks to overturn the law in its entirety.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice asked a judge to dismiss legal challenges brought by Missouri, Kansas and Idaho to restrict access to the abortion pill, which accounts for the majority of abortions each year.
