New Biden admin rule requires employers to accommodate workers’ abortions under pregnancy law

The Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its final rule Monday to require abortions and abortion services to be covered under a law originally passed to support women workers during pregnancy.

Consisting of over 400 pages, the new rule continues the effort by the administration and its allies in the abortion industry and the media to blur the lines between abortion and pregnancy. 

Its summary states the regulation will require “…a covered entity to provide reasonable accommodations to a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause an undue hardship on the operation of the business of the covered entity.” 

Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), workers can obtain accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, breast-feeding, etc. The finalized EEOC rule now provides that abortion is also a medical condition “related” to pregnancy, a claim former Planned Parenthood director-turned-pro-life activist Abby Johnson condemns.  

“Abortion and pregnancy aren’t the same thing, much less related medical conditions as the government would like us to believe,” Johnson, the founder of And Then There Were None, told The Lion. “One ends the life of an unborn baby, a cruel and atrocious act, while the other nurtures and cares for a growing unborn baby.” 

Johnson’s organization helps abortion workers leave the industry. 

“The EEOC is making a mockery of a fair law that requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women,” she added. “Instead of pushing for employers to adhere to laws that force them to accommodate abortion, no matter if they view it as a moral evil or not, those in positions of authority need to figure out ways to empower women to keep their babies and to provide childcare and reasonable maternity leave.” 

As ABC News observed Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) praised the EEOC for including abortion as a medical condition. In a public comment submitted in response to the proposed rule, the organization applauded the agency for “recognizing that abortion has for decades been approved under the law as a ‘related medical condition’ to pregnancy that entitles workers to reasonable accommodations, including time off to obtain abortion care.” 

Nevertheless, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom and the sanctity of life, said in a press statement Monday the new rule “hijacks a bipartisan law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, to impose pro-abortion regulations on virtually every employer in the country, even those whose religious beliefs dictate that life begins at conception.”  

“This rule is just the latest example of the Biden administration abusing its power to advance abortion,” said ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake.  

“The new rule seeks to punish the speech of pro-life employers and restrict their hiring practices,” she continued. “The Biden administration and the EEOC don’t have the legal authority to smuggle this illegitimate rule into a law that was created to protect and support women and that had nothing to do with abortion.” 

A public comment filed by ADF attorneys in October – urging the EEOC to withdraw its proposed rule – explained more about how the PWFA was “hijacked” by the Biden administration to achieve its abortion agenda. 

“Pregnant women should have their employers’ full support,” the comment reads. “Surveys show that most women who have abortions say that they would choose life if they had support. That’s why Congress passed the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—to ensure that employers provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. But the Biden administration’s new rule jeopardizes supportive work cultures for pregnant women by introducing abortion into the law. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) opposes this effort to hijack the pro-woman, pro-life PWFA. EEOC should stick to protecting pregnant women and unborn children—rather than promote abortion.” 

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, also weighed in on the Biden administration’s new rule. 

“Adding this controversial provision into the PWFA is wrong. Period,” the lawmaker said. “Abortion is not a medical condition related to pregnancy; it is the opposite. Leave it to the Biden administration to think terminating a pregnancy and ending the life of an unborn child addresses the needs of pregnant workers.” 

“Bottom line,” Foxx continued, “this is a classic example of government bureaucrats royally mucking it up.”