PREGNANT PAUSE: GOP Senator BLOCKS bill giving pregnant workers extra bathroom breaks
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is holding up the passage of legislation allowing pregnant workers to take bathroom breaks, in a move that his Democratic colleagues say is cruel.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a bipartisan bill giving pregnant workers the bare minimum level of protection while on the job, yet Tillis is intentionally blocking its passage.
The PWFA will guarantee that employees who are pregnant have — in addition to bathroom breaks — bottles of water and step stools. The Republican lawmaker won’t budge, however, and it’s left those on the other side of the aisle shaking their heads and demanding that the Senate force a vote.
Watch the video below.
According to Tillis, in the wording of the current bill, the federal government will have the power to force companies to provide assistance for workers seeking reproductive healthcare — an assertion that can’t be further from the truth.
When it comes to Republicans, however, facts and truth are on the low end of the priority scale when it comes to pushing a narrative or agenda.
“In its current form,” the Senator said, “this legislation before us would give federal bureaucrats at the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] authority to mandate that employers nationwide provide accommodations such as leave to obtain abortions on demand, under the guise of pregnancy-related conditions,” Yahoo News reported.
That’s not how it works — nor is it what the bill says.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) pushed back on her colleague’s claims.
“No one should have to choose between their job and a healthy pregnancy,” Murray said on the Senate floor.
“It is outrageous,” the Senator added, “that pregnant women in our country have been pushed out of their jobs – by their employers – because, as you just heard, they ask for additional bathroom break.”
Contrary to misinformation from those like Sen. Tillis and fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the bill makes no mention of abortion.
Per the bill’s language, it requires companies to offer “reasonable accommodations to the known limitations” extending from “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” Yahoo News wrote.
According to Catholic News Agency, despite groups like CatholicVote peddling claims that companies could be forced to pay for abortion-related expenses, and doesn’t provide enough protections for religious organizations, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed its support of the legislation.
“We believe that version of the bill, read in light of existing religious liberty protections, helps advance the USCCB’s goal of ensuring that no woman ever feels forced to choose between her future and the life of her child while protecting the conscience rights and religious freedoms of employers,” James Rogers, the chief communications officer for the USCCB, told CNA in a statement.
“In standing with women, children, and families in need, we should have policies to ensure that pregnant, working women are afforded appropriate accommodations to ensure their own health and the health of their pre-born children,” he told CNA. “The bishops have also articulated a comprehensive vision for the Church and public policy to support families.
This bill will not overrule current protections for religious employers, whose rights will continue to be protected.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations in line with an employee’s limitations unless the company can prove it will adversely affect their business to do so.
Its purpose is not to violate protected religious freedoms, but to eliminate the discrimination against pregnant workers who are limited in the duties they can perform.
Senator Murray, along with Senator Bill Casey (D-PA), has been a fierce advocate for the PWFA, asking the chamber to allow a roll call vote to push the legislation through. A companion bill in the House has already passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Opposition to the bill under some misguided sense of morality and religious conviction will only harm those workers facing uncertainty while working during their pregnancy — forcing those under medical advisement to put the lives of their unborn children in jeopardy, and possibly their own lives as well.
“It is unconscionable that people who are looking forward to welcoming a new family member are having their lives upturned or losing their paychecks they depend on,” Murray said in her firey defense of the bill. “All because their employers refuse to provide basic, common sense, low cost – and even no cost – accommodations.”
Also unconscionable, is that important and necessary legislation that will significantly improve the lives, health, and safety of millions of pregnant working women is being delayed because of one person: Senator Thom Tillis.
Even Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (LA) and Bill Burr (NC) openly support the bill.
“We have to do better,” Senator Murray stated.
Despite the #PregnantWorkersFairnessAct being bipartisan, just one Republican is blocking it from becoming law. I will keep fighting with @SenBobCasey to get this passed because we've got to get pregnant workers the dignity, respect, and basic workplace accommodations they need. pic.twitter.com/LCnGO6FV33
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) December 8, 2022
Original reporting by Kylie Cheung at Jezebel.
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