WA NARAL Opposes Outcome Of Pregnant Worker Protection Law

From NARAL Pro-Choice: NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Executive Director Tiffany Hankins issued the following statement on the passage of SHB 1796, which fails to cover thousands of pregnant women in Washington State. While the Washington State Law Against Discrimination protects all workers at businesses with eight employees or more, this bill only protects women who work at companies with at least 15 workers, creating an less-protected class that includes only pregnant women.

"We applaud Rep. Jessyn Farrell's tireless work to ensure that all pregnant women have access to reasonable workplace accommodations. At the same time, we are disappointed that the House chose to cave to business interests by adopting an amended version of Farrell's bill that fails to protect thousands of Washington women," Hankins said.

"Rep. Farrell fought hard to create a flexible workplace accommodation law that would use the same standards as all other state laws against discrimination, but ultimately, she couldn't pass strong legislation without the help of colleagues willing to stand boldly beside her in standing up to the business lobby.

"By rewriting worker protections so they don't apply equally to all state residents, the legislature is codifying women's status as second-class citizens," Hankins said.

Supporters of the bill as amended pointed out that it can be amended to include all women at some future date. "In our experience, these kinds of assurances have been empty promises," Hankins continued. "Washington women shouldn't have wait until legislators get around to amending this inadequate bill in some future session.

"The fate of this pregnancy accommodations bill highlights the difference between allies and champions. Allies support women's rights when it's easy or popular to do so. Champions stand with women even when it means going up against powerful interests like the business lobby. We need more champions like Rep. Farrell in the Washington State legislature."

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