Judge Strikes Federal Rule Requiring Employers to Accommodate Employee Abortions

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exceeded its authority, the judge concluded.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who challenged the rule in court, in an undated file photograph. Courtesy of Lynn Fitch

A federal rule that required employers to give workers time off and other accommodations for abortions is illegal, a judge ruled on May 21.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) went beyond a law crafted by Congress—the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—when it issued a rule in 2024 interpreting the law as requiring employers to provide accommodations for workers seeking abortions, U.S. District Judge David Joseph said in a 40-page ruling.

“The record before the Court clearly establishes that the EEOC has exceeded its statutory authority to implement the PWFA and, in doing so, both unlawfully expropriated the authority of Congress and encroached upon the sovereignty of the Plaintiff States under basic principles of federalism,” Joseph wrote.

The judge vacated the portion of the rule that included abortion in the accommodation requirements and ordered the EEOC to revise the rule in accordance with his decision.

Joseph, who is based in Louisiana, had in 2024 entered a preliminary injunction against the rule while the case proceeded. The new ruling is final.

The ruling keeps in place the rest of the rule, which requires employers to offer time off and other accommodations to workers who are pregnant or have recently given birth.

The EEOC referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice, which did not return an inquiry. EEOC acting Chair Andrea Lucas previously has said that she opposed including abortion in the final rule.

“This is a win for Louisiana and for life!” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, who challenged the rule in court, said on social media platform X.

The judge had consolidated the case brought by Murrill and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, another Republican, and a case filed by Catholic groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Congress passed the PWFA in 2022, and it was signed by then-President Joe Biden that year. It took effect in 2023 and covers businesses with at least 15 employees.

The EEOC voted 3–2 to approve the final rule. The inclusion of abortion prompted criticism from some lawmakers who had approved the legislation.

“These regulations completely disregard legislative intent and attempt to rewrite the law by regulation,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee and a physician, said in a statement at the time.

Government lawyers had told the court that the law did cover abortions.

“The relevant statutory language in the PWFA mirrors the text of Title VII—'pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’—which encompasses abortion,” they wrote. “Plaintiffs offer no plausible justification for why that phrase should be construed differently under the PWFA, which was intended to broaden Title VII’s protections, and contrary to the settled canons of statutory construction.”

Joseph rejected that position, noting that the law made no mention of abortion.

“The Court concludes that the EEOC has failed to point to clear congressional authorization for the inclusion of abortion protection in a statute intended only to accommodate and protect female employees during pregnancy,” the judge said.

A Better Balance, an advocate for the law, decried the ruling.

“The Courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have consistently interpreted pregnancy-related needs to include abortion-related needs. The EEOC crafted the PWFA regulations over a period of years with thoughtful input from thousands of stakeholders,” Inimai Chettiar, A Better Balance president, said in a statement. “This court’s sudden decision to rewrite those regulations upends workers’ and employers’ understanding of and reliance on settled precedent.”