Pregnancy Rights

We oppose attempts to criminalize the behavior of pregnant women, including the troubling trend of prosecuting women for drug use during pregnancy, which discourages women from seeking prenatal care and results in less healthy mothers and babies.

Highlights

Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Testimony re: Pregnancy and Caregiver Discrimination to the EEOC

March 8, 2012

This testimony outlines the barriers that pregnant and caregiving women continue to face in the workplace, demonstrating that this discrimination functions to exclude women from many high-wage and high-demand jobs that can be critical to achieving economic security.  It concludes by making recommendations to address these barriers and advance the rights of working women.  The supplemental testimony responds to questions posed by Commissioners at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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Blog Post | “Similar in Their Ability or Inability to Work” or: How Not to Discriminate Against Pregnant Employees

February 17, 2012

This week, the EEOC held a public meeting on unlawful discrimination against pregnant workers and workers with caregiving responsibilities at which experts, including the National Women’s Law Center’s own Vice President and General Counsel Emily Martin, presented compelling testimony setting out the widespread and often blatant ways in which employers continue to unlawfully discriminate in the workplace. Members of the Commission expressed dismay, if not complete surprise, that nearly 35 years after the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was passed in 1978, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy persists, in the words of EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien, “unnecessarily depriving women of the means to support their families.”

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Fact Sheet | If You Really Care about Criminal Justice, You Should Care about Reproductive Justice!

September 11, 2012

Working towards a more progressive criminal justice system is an important part of furthering the cause of reproductive justice. A criminal justice system that makes communities safer, protects personal liberty and limits abuses of power by governmental authorities will also further the cause of reproductive justice. Those who support a progressive criminal justice system will identify several common areas of advocacy with the Reproductive Justice movement. These include: opposing the criminalization of behaviors that are closely tied to unmet social service needs, especially mental health and substance abuse services; rejecting mass incarceration and the use of the criminal justice system to address problems better addressed through adequate social services; ensuring procedural safeguards, discouraging selective prosecution and protecting the constitutional rights of the accused; and advocating for fair, appropriate and humane sentences for those convicted of crimes.

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More Resources

Fact Sheet, Webinars & Presentations | Resources for "If You Care About..., Then You Should Care About Reproductive Justice" Series

November 02, 2011

The National Women’s Law Center and Law Students for Reproductive Justice have developed a series of webinars for law students that look at the intersection of reproductive justice with other progressive advocacy issues. We hope that through this series, students will start thinking of the social justice and human rights underpinnings of progressive work, and how we can all work together toward our common goals.

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Webinars & Presentations | If You Care about Criminal Justice, You Should Care about Reproductive Justice

October 26, 2011

A webinar with Jill Morrison (Senior Counsel, NWLC) and Lynn Paltrow (Executive Director, National Advocates for Pregnant Women) where they discuss the intersection between reproductive justice and criminal justice.

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Webinars & Presentations | If you Care about Racial Discrimination, You Should Care about Reproductive Justice

October 19, 2011

A webinar with Jill Morrison (Senior Counsel, NWLC) and Loretta Ross (National Coordinator, SisterSong) where they discuss the intersection of reproductive justice and racial discrimination.

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Webinars & Presentations | If You Care about Environmental Justice, You Should Care about Reproductive Justice (2011)

October 12, 2011

A webinar with Jill Morrison (senior counsel, NWLC) and Kimberly Inez McGuire (senior programs and policy associate, Reproductive Health Technologies Project) & Morganne Rosnhaus (programs and polcy associate, Reproductive Health Technologies Project) discussing the intersection of environmental justice and reproductive justice.

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Webinars & Presentations | If You Care about LGBT Issues, You Should Care about Reproductive Justice

October 05, 2011

A webinar with Ashland Johnson (Fellow, NWLC) & Maya Rupert (Federal Policy Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights) where they discuss the intersection of reproductive justice with LGBT issues.

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