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Defending the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in the Courts
In February 2024, a federal judge in Texas erased the rights of thousands of Texas state employees, blocking them from pursuing claims under the PWFA. The ruling, which came only eight months after Texas workers, and all workers had finally won long-awaited rights under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, devastated workers and their allies. It also threatened the democratic values that our organizations work to defend.
The 5th Circuit heard oral arguments in the appeal at the end of February. Regardless of the outcome, we will continue to fight in the courts to hold governments to account and to defend the rights of pregnant and postpartum workers, wherever that fight takes us next.
(This essay is a part of Ms. and A Better Balance’s Women & Democracy installment, all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks.)
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In the Fight to Defend Pregnant Workers, Focus on the South
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The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Is Key to Improving Black Maternal Health and Families’ Economic Security
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Winning the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: A Landmark Victory for Women, Families and Democracy
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Trump Administration Drops Lawsuit to Protect Emergency Abortion Access: ‘A Cruel and Callous Act That Could Cost Pregnant Idahoans Their Lives’
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The Fight for Pregnant Workers’ Rights Isn’t Over (with Dina Bakst)
As we reckon with an administration hostile to equal rights, feminists will continue to fight. To help keep hope, we must remember and celebrate recent wins.
One of those wins is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect on June 27, 2023. This is a landmark piece of legislation that prohibits discrimination and ensures workplace accommodations related to pregnancy for workers. But is the PWFA safe, or will it be threatened by the Trump administration’s crusade against reproductive rights and justice?
Feminist Daily Newswire
Feminist Majority Foundation
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Iranian Human Rights Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh Shares Petition to Free Husband Reza Khandan From Prison
Iranian human rights attorney and recently released political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh wrote in the September 2022 issue of Ms. to express her appreciation for the magazine’s “unreserved support for me and my husband during the harsh days of my imprisonment.”
She described the way politicians around the world gain power and control by oppressing women, and she spoke about facing governmental “pressure that tightened like a noose around our family on a daily basis.”
That pressure was felt again last Dec. 13 when Nasrin’s equally courageous husband Reza Khandan was arrested for his efforts on behalf of women’s rights in Iran.
