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.)