Catholic University joins lawsuit against Biden admin over latest abortion regulation
The Catholic University of America joined a lawsuit with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops challenging a federal regulation that requires employers to provide abortion accommodations.
'The Catholic University of America community remains steadfast in our commitments to upholding the sanctity of life and supporting women and pregnant mothers in the workplace,' CUA President Peter Kilpatrick said.
The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., has joined a lawsuit with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in challenging a federal regulation requiring employers to provide abortion accommodations.
The federal act, known as the “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act,” was passed in June 2023, but was recently interpreted to include abortion protections by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in April.
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The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act mandates that “[i]t shall be an unlawful employment practice to … not make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a qualified employee.” The EEOC claims that “related medical conditions” include abortion.
“Accommodations” does not refer to employers providing for abortion, but accommodating the ability to get an abortion.
“Catholic University brought this lawsuit because an unelected federal agency issued a rule saying that employers nationwide must accommodate employee abortions, including by changing the way the employer itself talks about abortion,” Laura Wolk Slavis, CUA’s representative counsel from Becket Law, told Campus Reform.
“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was intended to protect expecting mothers in the workforce, which Catholic University fully supports,” Wolk Slavis said. “But the EEOC hijacked the law to mandate abortion accommodation, despite the law’s clear text and its laudable and uncontroversial purpose expressed plainly by its bipartisan sponsors and supporters.”
The USCCB filed the lawsuit against the EEOC on May 22.
“The Catholic University of America community remains steadfast in our commitments to upholding the sanctity of life and supporting women and pregnant mothers in the workplace,” CUA President Peter Kilpatrick said in a press release on May 23.
In the statement, the university affirmed its commitment to supporting families, pointing to its own “Guadalupe Project,” which expands “Family-Friendly” parental benefits to CUA community members.
“We firmly reject any suggestion of tension between those two core commitments [of babies and their mothers],” Kilpatrick continued. “We can – and we do – support women as they grow their families, and we believe it is possible to do so wholeheartedly while also supporting the dignity of life at all stages.”
At least 19 Republican attorney generals have also sued the EEOC, arguing that the agency’s interpretation of the law goes beyond what Congress originally intended. The new regulation is set to go into effect on June 18.
Campus Reform contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
