In a formal congressional comment letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) rebuked the federal agency’s proposal to impose an abortion mandate on employers as part of its implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—a bipartisan law that excludes any mention of abortion and is intended to provide critical accommodations for working mothers.

            Signed by a total of 61 Members of Congress, the Smith-Lankford letter was submitted this week as part of the mandatory 60-day comment period that allows members of the public to weigh in on proposed rules before they are finalized and implemented.

            “In these regulations, the EEOC has moved far beyond the power delegated by Congress,” the Members wrote.

            “The Commission was directed to implement a bipartisan law designed to provide accommodation protections for pregnant women in the workforce. Instead, it has sought to impose an unconstitutional nationwide abortion mandate on employers,” they wrote.

            Enacted into law in December, the PWFA requires employers with 15 or more employees to make “reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” of an employee. The law is intended to help female workers maintain their employment while supporting their health and the health of their babies during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as after involuntary loss through miscarriage and stillbirth.

            “As Members of Congress, we support policies to ensure women are provided with access to necessary accommodations in the workplace during pregnancy to support the health of both the woman and her unborn child,” the Members wrote. “This was the goal of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and we write to share our strong opposition to the illegal imposition of abortion mandates in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) proposed regulations, published on August 11, 2023, to implement the PWFA.”

            Smith noted that the EEOC misguided efforts fall in line with the Biden Administration’s post-Roe obsession to push abortion across every sector of the federal government—even when it is so clearly against congressional intent.

            “The PWFA does not include abortion. In fact, abortion is antithetical to the Act’s purpose because it is intentionally anti-pregnancy and anti-childbirth. Abortion is not health care. It ends the lives of unborn children through suction, dismemberment, or chemical poisoning, and it can lead to significant physical complications and mental health risks for women,” the Members said in their letter.

            “We urge you to remove abortion mandates from the scope of this rule, protect employers with religious and moral objections, and finalize a rule that accurately reflects the Congressional mandate to promote healthy pregnancies and childbirth, not abortion,” they concluded.

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