(CN) — Tennessee, Arkansas and 15 other states with heavily Republican governments claimed in a lawsuit filed on Thursday that a new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule would force them to accommodate all abortions even when prohibited in their jurisdictions.
The states say the employment commission "hijacked" the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act — a bipartisan law to ensure that pregnant workers receive adequate workplace accommodations — to require that employees also accommodate workers' abortions, even when it is to terminate an otherwise healthy pregnancy.
"If the rule stands, Tennessee, its co-plaintiff states and many others must facilitate workers' abortions or face federal suit — even those elective abortions of healthy pregnancies that are illegal under state law," the states said in a federal complaint filed in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was an otherwise uncontroversial law that received broad support, including from pro-life groups, in so far as it sought commonsense accommodations for pregnant employees, such as extra restroom breaks or the ability to work while seated, according to the states.
One co-sponsor of the law commented that she couldn't think of anything "less controversial" than the law's protections for the health of mothers and their unborn babies, the states claim.
However, once the employment commission was tasked with formulating a rule to implement the law's requirements by providing examples of reasonable accommodations, the commission expanded the law's references to "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions," to include abortions — whether or not the procedure was medically needed, the states say.
Tennessee and Arkansas are joined by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia in accusing the employment commission of violating the Administrative Procedures Act and the U.S. Constitution.
When the employment commission came out with this proposed rule in August, Senator Bill Cassidy — a Republican representing Louisiana and one of bill's co-sponsors — accused the commission of substituting its views on abortion in place of those of Congress.
Many other opponents of the proposed rule also argued that the inclusion of abortion accommodations exceeded the purview of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which doesn't mention abortions, according to the states. Furthermore, opponents of the rule said that bill's drafting history forecloses abortion coverage altogether.
"Despite this outpouring of opposition, EEOC's final rule includes a mandate that employers, including states where abortion is generally prohibited, provide abortion accommodations to their workers," the states claim. "Like the proposed rule, EEOC's final rule requires accommodating all abortions, even those performed exclusively to end a healthy pregnancy and terminate an unborn child's life."
Representatives of the employment commission didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit sent after regular business hours.
The states say the commission violate their rights to federalism, state sovereignty and the First Amendment, among other claims. They seek a court order that the commission's abortion-related mandate conflicts with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and is invalid.
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