WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois introduced legislation Thursday to ensure that a federal law protecting pregnant workers cannot be used to force employers to subsidize abortions.
Passed in 2022, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires employers make “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant employees. In fall 2024, the Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed a rule that would define “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” in the PWFA as encompassing “having or choosing not to have an abortion.”
As explained at the time by Miller and Republican U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the PWFA does not include abortion in its text, and in fact the lawmakers who enacted it said they did so with the express understanding that it did not confer any requirement to facilitate, assist, or accommodate a decision to abort. Some warned two years earlier that the PWFA could be used to infringe on pro-life employers’ conscience rights, yet it passed with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Several states, religious entities, and conservative groups challenged the rule, securing a ruling last month that they would not be forced to pay for abortion in insurance plans. Now under the Trump administration, the EEOC has indicated it intends to rescind the rule once it has a quorum to do so.
On April 3, Miller’s office announced her introduction of the Love Them Both Act, which would clarify in statute that the PWFA does not require abortion support, preventing future agencies from interpreting it as Biden’s EEOC did.
“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was meant to support new mothers and their children — not fund the destruction of innocent life,” Miller said. “Allowing abortion under this law directly contradicts its purpose. My bill will restore its original intent, protect unborn babies, and stand for the sanctity of life.”
“The Biden administration’s radical expansion of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act has twisted a law meant to protect expectant mothers into a tool forcing employers to facilitate abortions, directly contradicting its original intent to support women who choose to carry their pregnancies to term,” Republican Study Committee chairman August Pfluger added. “I’m proud to support Rep. Mary Miller’s Love Them Both Act, which stops this regulatory overreach by ensuring pregnancy accommodations support life, not end it, while ensuring the PWFA returns to its intended purpose of helping pregnant workers continue working safely as they prepare for childbirth. No one should be forced to choose between their conscience and complying with federal law. This legislation accomplishes just that.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether states have the ability to prevent their taxpayers from being forced to support the abortion industry through their Medicaid programs.
