Tennessee is leading a 17-state lawsuit over a federal rule entitling workers to certain accommodations for abortions, claiming the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's rule is unconstitutional overreach.
The states filed the lawsuit against the EEOC in federal district court in eastern Arkansas on Thursday. In it, they claim that new regulations to the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA) go against the original intent of the law.
“Congress passed the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to protect mothers-to-be and promote healthy pregnancies, and the EEOC's attempt to rewrite that law into an abortion mandate is illegal,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “I’m proud to lead the coalition fighting to protect the rule of law against this unconstitutional federal overreach.”
The legislation had wide bipartisan support in Congress when it passed in December 2022. It requires that employers provide "reasonable accommodations" to employees related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
The EEOC approved its final regulations for how to implement the law by a 3-2 on April 19. The commission chose to include abortions in its final rules for the law despite taking criticism from conservatives.
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Under the regulations, employers or health care providers are not required to provide or pay for abortions or expenses incurred from traveling for an abortion. The accommodations will typically be for time off of work to receive and recover from an abortion, "which will likely be unpaid," according to the EEOC.
The states argue that the rule infringes on their sovereignty and exceeds the EEOC's statutory authority as an agency, an argument frequently used by conservatives against government regulation. The U.S. Supreme Court may soon overturn a judicial doctrine that courts should defer to agencies' interpretations of ambiguities in law, a move that some critics say would allow judges to impose their preferences into policy.
“An unelected body like the EEOC Commission does not have the authority to rewrite laws passed by Congress,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall, who joined Tennessee in the lawsuit, said in a statement. “Congress sought to ensure accommodations on the job to promote the health of pregnant women and their babies. Biden’s EEOC has illegally transformed that bipartisan law into a mandate that employers facilitate abortions. Biden is again violating the law to promote his radical agenda, and we will again stop him.”
The states also say that the application of the EEOC's rule to accommodate abortions will force the states to incur various costs, including "lost productivity, shift covering, and provision of additional leave days."
The states say the rule "unconstitutionally impairs their interests in protecting their messaging with respect to the primacy of protecting fetal life and the damages caused by abortion."
The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from Tennessee and Arkansas. The other states in the lawsuit are:
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.
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