Trump's EEOC plans to trim pregnant worker protections as soon as this month
A rewrite of who counts under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is due in November. Fertility treatment coverage looks most at risk.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Trump plans to propose new limits this month on the rules that protect pregnant workers on the job.
The agency's entry in the federal government's regulatory agenda, titled "Revisions to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Regulations," lists November 2026 as the target date for a proposed rule, with public comments closing in January 2027. The entry says the EEOC will revise how it reads the words "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." That phrase decides which workers can ask their boss for help. The agency hasn't released the text yet, so the exact cuts aren't known.
What the rules do now
Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in 2022. It requires most employers with 15 or more employees to give reasonable accommodations to workers with limits tied to pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions, unless the change would cause the business an undue hardship.
The EEOC's 2024 rule, which took effect June 18, 2024, spelled out what that means. Its examples include extra breaks to drink water, eat, or use the restroom, a stool to sit on, time off for health care appointments, telework, and time off to recover from childbirth or a miscarriage. The rule names four changes that will almost always be reasonable: keeping water nearby, extra bathroom breaks, sitting or standing as needed, and breaks to eat and drink.
The rule also covers conditions beyond pregnancy itself. Bloomberg Law reported that it lists contraception, fertility treatments, lactation, and postpartum depression as examples.
What's likely on the table
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas voted against the 2024 rule. In her written statement at the time, she said it "fundamentally errs in conflating pregnancy and childbirth accommodation with accommodation of the female sex, that is, female biology and reproduction." She objected to coverage of infertility, fertility treatment, contraception, and menstruation.
Abortion is already out. On May 21, 2025, U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph in Louisiana threw out the rule's abortion-accommodation provisions and ordered the EEOC to revise its regulations, Bloomberg Law reported.
Employment lawyers expect the next cuts to hit fertility treatment and menstruation-related conditions. Experts told Reuters that coverage tied to IVF is likely to be cut, while protection for pregnancy itself is an open question. The basic duty to accommodate pregnant workers comes from the law Congress passed, which a rule can't erase. "Acting Chair Lucas has no desire to dismantle what she sees as the key part of the PWFA," Christine Bestor Townsend, an attorney at Ogletree Deakins, told Bloomberg Law.
Who pushes back
Kalpana Kotagal, the commission's Democratic member, called weakening the rules "misguided" and linked them to lower miscarriage rates, according to Reuters. In May, 15 Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wrote to Lucas warning that dropping protections for fertility treatment could lead employers to unlawfully deny accommodation requests, HR Dive reported. They also said the move would clash with President Trump's stated push to expand access to fertility care. Katie Sandson of the National Women's Law Center told Bloomberg Law that rewriting a rule workers already rely on will sow confusion.
Workers use these protections. About 2,700 pregnancy-related complaints were filed with the EEOC in fiscal year 2024, Reuters reported.
What comes next
A proposed rule isn't final. Once it's published in the Federal Register, anyone can comment before the EEOC writes a final version. Until then, the 2024 rule stays in force, minus the abortion provisions the court struck. If you're pregnant and need a water bottle, a stool, or time off for a checkup, you can still ask your employer for it today.
Sources
- Revisions to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Regulations (RIN 3046-AB36), Unified Agenda, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
- EEOC Issues Final Regulation on Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Summary of Key Provisions of EEOC's Final Rule to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Statement of Commissioner Andrea R. Lucas on the PWFA Final Rule (April 3, 2024), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- EEOC Pregnancy Bias Rules' Scope Primed to Shrink Under Trump, Bloomberg Law
- Looming US rule changes may curb pregnant worker supports, Reuters (via Yahoo News)
- Dems urge EEOC to retain pregnancy rule's IVF protections, HR Dive (via Yahoo News)
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