Page 87 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

Moreover, despite some existing federal protections for pregnant workers, some women are still denied reasonable accommodations in the workplace, and as a result may be fired or forced to leave their jobs . No woman should have to choose between her job and her pregnancy, especially when her family is dependent on that job to make ends meet or to receive health insurance . Although many women can work without adjustments or accommodations during their pregnancy, others cannot . Women who are pregnant while working deserve to have employers provide reasonable accommodations for medical needs so that they can keep the jobs that are critical to the well- being of their families .44 The recent Supreme Court decision in Young v. UPS45 provided a broader reading of existing pregnancy protections, but further action is needed .46 Protecting the ability of pregnant women to keep their jobs is essential to women’s economic security and health .
Solutions for Local, State, and Federal Lawmakers
The United States has significant room to improve when it comes to ensuring low-income women have equitable and affordable access to comprehensive reproductive health care, as well as the ability and support to make personal decisions about whether or not to parent . Unfortunately, many legislators seem to be more focused on playing politics with women’s health care and restricting abortion than on addressing the real health care and economic challenges faced by their constituents . It’s especially outrageous that recent trends in state abortion restrictions have been advanced under the guise of protecting women’s health and safety . Legislators in Texas,47 Mississippi,48 Louisiana,49 and other states have boldly claimed to be focusing on protecting women’s health when pushing for sham laws that would actually harm women’s health by closing clinics and making abortion harder to access for low-income women . Meanwhile, research shows “an inverse relationship between a state’s number of abortion restrictions and a state’s number of evidence-based policies that support women’s and children’s well-being .”50 Politicians laser- focused on legislating abortion out of existence are doing so at the expense of addressing the crucial health and socioeconomic challenges their constituents face .
Reproductive rights are crucial to women’s ability to live healthy, full, and dignified lives . But rights aren’t always enough . Economic status is intertwined with existing inequalities in health care access and outcomes, and specifically in reproductive health care access . While these challenges may seem insurmountable, there are realistic and attainable solutions . First, state, federal, and
44 naTional women’s law cenTer & a BeTTer Balance, iT shouldn’T Be a heavy lifT: fair TreaTmenT for pregnanT workers (2013), available at http://www.nwlc.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pregnant_workers.pdf.
45 Young v. UPS, 135 S. Ct. 1338 (2015), http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/14. See also Legal Momentum Applauds Supreme Court Decision in Young v. UPS and Calls for Stronger National Legislation, legal momenTum (March 25, 2015), https://www.legalmomentum.org/press/legal-momentum-applauds-supreme-court- decision-young-v-ups-and-calls-stronger-national.
46 Id.
47 Chris Tomlinson, Texas House Passes Abortion Bill, Senate to Vote Next, The huffingTon posT (July 10, 2013), http://
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/texas-house-abortion vote_n_3573953.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003.
48 Gov. Bryant Signs Measure to Ban Abortions at 20 Weeks, governor phil BryanT (Apr. 23, 2014), http://www. governorbryant.com/gov-bryant-signs-measure-to-ban-abortions-at-20-weeks/.
49 Vitter Calls for Investigation into Baton Rouge Abortion Clinic, u.s. senaTor david viTTer (May 20, 2014), http://www. vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-calls-for-investigation-into-baton-rouge-abortion-clinic.
50 Burns, BridgiT eT al., cenTer for reproducTive righTs, iBis reproducTive healTh , evaluaTing prioriTies: measuring women’s and children’s healTh and well-Being againsT aBorTion resTricTions in The sTaTes 3(2014), available at http:// www.ibisreproductivehealth.org/sites/default/files/files/publications/Ibis%20and%20CRR_Priorities_Project_ FINAL_2014.pdf.
Reproductive Rights and Women’s Equality
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