NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A bill in Congress that would ensure pregnant women aren't fired from their jobs for requesting reasonable accommodations in the workplace has received bipartisan approval in the House Education and Labor Committee, and soon should move to the House floor for a vote.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is co-sponsored by 26 representatives from both sides of the aisle. Elizabeth Gedmark is vice president of the workforce advocacy group A Better Balance. She said gaps in current state laws leave Tennessee's pregnant workers at risk of losing their jobs for making minor requests, such as needing to sit or avoid heavy lifting.

"We for many years have been working on a Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and that bill has garnered bipartisan support," Gedmark said. "We expect that it will again this year, and we think that 2020 is the year that Tennessee will be next."

The bill is sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Johnny Shaw of Bolivar. In 2018, Tennessee made national headlines when a New York Times investigation revealed six Memphis women had suffered miscarriages after lifting heavy boxes without being given breaks at their employer's warehouse.

Gedmark said outdated policies aren't in line with the fact that women now outnumber men in the labor force, according to the latest federal data.

"Women are now the majority of the workforce, so this is not the 1950s," she said. "And we can't rely on laws from the '50s, '60s and '70s for our reality now, where women are working farther into their pregnancies and more and more women are working, and they're supporting their families."

She pointed out while a 1978 federal law bars employers from firing someone because they're pregnant, it doesn't protect workers from unsafe working conditions. Gedmark added that pregnancy discrimination remains widespread and is an uphill battle in courtrooms.

"Even in court cases where women had gone all the way to court with this issue, two-thirds of them in post-2015 cases lost their pregnancy-discrimination claims," she said.

She also noted black women filed nearly 30% of pregnancy-discrimination complaints between 2010 and 2015, despite making up only 14% of the female labor force.


get more stories like this via email

In the 1960s, women were told in ad campaigns, "You've come a long way, baby." But in Utah, that may not be the case.

Women's Equality Day is this Friday, but a statistical survey by researchers at the website WalletHub ranks Utah last among the 50 states for women's equality. The study looked at 17 key indicators, from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in employment rates for women and men, as well as education and health care.

Jill Gonzalez, communications director at WalletHub, said the survey found wide discrepancies in Utah - in education, health and wealth.

"Utah ranked last when it comes to income," she said. "It has the largest gap between what women are making and what men are making. In the bottom five for its executive positions gap - so, there are about six times more men in executive positions than women."

The survey analyzed 17 key indicators of workplace environment, education and health, and political empowerment. On the global scale, the World Economic Forum has ranked the United States 27th this year out of 146 countries - and that's an improvement over last year's 30th place.

A recent study by Utah State University found Utah women have historically been underrepresented in politics. The state currently has no women in its eight-member congressional delegation, and women hold only 24% of the 104 state legislative seats. Gonzalez said that won't change unless more women run for office.

"In the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, substantially more men in the state Legislature and state elections," she said. "We see the same issue in Utah, and there's really not many women there. So, I think even before looking at policy, it's looking at who's making policy."

The survey also ranks Utah last for the number of women with post-graduate or other advanced degrees.

While abortion care is in the headlines, a new report says accessing other health-care services is a challenge for many women in Georgia.

Data from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families shows one-in-five Georgia women of reproductive age lacks health care coverage. Executive Director Joan Alker said that's one of the highest rates in the country and region.

"Women need to be covered before, during and after their pregnancy," said Alker, "to ensure that some of their chronic health conditions - like high blood pressure or depression or diabetes - are under control before they come pregnant and remain under control after they have a baby."

The report also raises the alarm about the state's trajectory when it comes to health outcomes for moms and babies.

Georgia's maternal mortality rate of 24.5 is slightly greater than national average, which Alker noted is very high. And infant mortality also presents similarly.

Alker added that there are notable disparities in health outcomes for women of reproductive age.

"Black women, Latina women, and multi-racial women are seeing bigger problems," said Alker. "Higher rates of being uninsured and greater incidents, unfortunately, of maternal and infant mortality."

Nearly half of Hispanic or Latina women of reproductive age are uninsured in Georgia, and Black babies die at higher rates than white babies.

Alker said the most important thing Georgia can to do protect the health of women and babies would be to expand the Medicaid program.

"They'd have access to the care they need, they would have the financial protection from large medical bills," said Alker. "If Georgia wants its families to thrive, they just simply cannot be exposing these women to economic and medical peril by leaving them uninsured."

Georgia is among a dozen states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Texas soon will enact one of the strictest abortion bans in the country - and a majority of voters don't like it.

Three out of four - 77% of the state's registered voters - would prefer a less severe abortion policy, according to polling by the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs.

Senior Research Associate there Mark Jones said while there were some significant differences between Republicans and Democrats, most voters think the previously passed House Bill 1280 goes too far.

"If we're thinking of the average Texan," said Jones, "their preference is either that abortion only be permitted if the woman's life is in danger, or in the case of rape or incest, also for six weeks for any reason."

Texas is one of several states with a "trigger law" set to take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court issues a formal judgment after overturning Roe v. Wade in May.

The Texas law does not include exceptions for rape or incest, and only allows an abortion if a pregnancy would kill or cause severe injury to the person carrying the child.

Jones said about half of those polled on abortion don't agree with the state's "trigger law."

"If Republican lawmakers had included providing an exception in the case of rape or incest," said Jones, "then they'd pretty much be in line where the average Texas voter is."

The poll also found a majority of voters would support expanding services for those pregnant and their babies, including funding for pregnancy and prenatal care, new born classes, foster care and adoption services. Jones said they also support paying for those.

"Hopefully," said Jones, "the Legislature will at least say, 'OK, if we are going to have this policy related to abortion, we will invest more money so the financial burden or the time burden is ameliorated somewhat.'"

The poll was conducted after the Supreme Court's decision was handed down and included 1,069 respondents who are registered to vote in Texas.