Louisiana, Mississippi sue over workplace pregnancy protection law that covers abortion

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and her Mississippi counterpart are behind a lawsuit against the Biden administration over workplace rules that they believe “impose a national abortion regime.”

Murrill and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed suit Tuesday to challenge the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. They take specific issue with a requirement that employers allow time off  workers who choose to have an abortion. In April, the EEOC published its final rule on the act that included broad definitions of medical conditions related to pregnancy.

“A pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition does not need to be the sole, the original, or a substantial cause of the physical or mental condition at issue for the physical or mental condition” for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to apply, the EEOC wrote.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Murrill said the commission’s latest rule is an attempt to “hijack” the original intent of the act.

“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was originally a bipartisan law passed by Congress to support mothers,” Murrill said. “This new action by the EEOC is another example of bureaucrats rewriting acts of Congress to their own liking, and it’s unconstitutional. We will continue to challenge this administration’s overreach and protect pregnant women.”

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Questions for the EEOC about the lawsuit were referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

Similar lawsuits have been filed by 17 other states, including Arkansas and Tennessee.

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