On May 21, 2025, in State of Louisiana, et al. v. EEOC, U.S. District Judge David C. Joseph ofthe U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued an order vacating a portion of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) final rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) to the extent it requires employers to provide accommodations for elective abortions that are not medically necessary. To learn how we got here and what this means for your organization, review this recap of developments and highlights from the court’s decision.
U.S. Supreme Court Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. Following the decision, several states – including Mississippi and Louisiana – passed laws largely banning abortion, except in very limited circumstances.
Congress Enacts the PWFA
In December 2022, Congress enacted the PWFA which – effective as of June 2023 – requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants or employees for physical or mental conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless the accommodations would impose an undue hardship on the operations of the business. For additional information on the PWFA, see HERE.
EEOC Issues Final Rule Implementing the PWFA
In April 2024, the EEOC issued its final rule providing interpretative guidance implementing the PWFA. As relevant here, the EEOC included abortion in its definition of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” thereby requiring employers to provide accommodations related to “having or choosing not to have an abortion.”
This decision proved controversial with the EEOC receiving ~54,000 comments opposing the inclusion of abortion and ~40,000 comments supporting the inclusion of abortion. The EEOC defended its decision to include abortion as “consistent with the [agency’s] and courts’ longstanding interpretation of the same phrase in Title VII[,]” and further noted that the PWFA does not require an employer to cover costs for an abortion or travel to obtain an abortion.
State of Louisiana, et al. v. EEOC
In May 2024, the states of Mississippi and Louisiana sued the EEOC arguing, among other things, that the final rule conflicts with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and their respective state laws on abortion.
Preliminary Injunction Issued
In June 2024, Judge Joseph found that the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority to implement the PWFA and issued a preliminary injunction postponing the effective date of the final rule’s requirement to provide accommodation for elective abortions until final judgment was entered in the matter. Judge Joseph limited the scope of the injunction to the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, covered employers with respect to employees who primarily worked in Louisiana or Mississippi, and a group of Catholic organizations that filed a separate challenge to the final rule. The injunction enjoined the EEOC from investigating these parties for failure to provide such accommodations.
Notably, the injunction came just days after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas issued an order denying a preliminary injunction in a separate lawsuit filed by a group of 17 state attorneys general challenging the constitutionality of the abortion-related accommodations. The court found that “the EEOC’s interpretation [of the PWFA] is consistent with its almost five-decades-long interpretation of the phrase ‘related medical conditions’ in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act[,]” and further, that the accommodations would not affect employers or the states’ respective regulation of abortion.
Federal Court Vacates Final Rule’s “Abortion Accommodation Mandate”
On May 21, 2025, Judge Joseph issued an order vacating the “abortion accommodation mandate,” finding again that the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority to implement the PWFA and – as a result – “unlawfully expropriated the authority of Congress and encroached upon the sovereignty of the Plaintiff States under basic principles of federalism.”
EEOC Exceeded Its Statutory Authority
In its analysis, the court noted the following findings:
- The PWFA was enacted six months after the Dobbs decision, which removed abortion as a constitutional concern and returned the issue to the States, and if Congress wanted to include an abortion accommodation provision in the PWFA, it would have done so.
- The final rule violates the “major questions doctrine” because actions of great economic or political significance require clear congressional authorization and the EEOC failed to “point to [any such] authorization for the inclusion of abortion protection in a statute intended only to accommodate and protect female employees during pregnancy.”
- “[T]he legislative history unambiguously confirms that Congress specifically did not intend for the PWFA to require employers to accommodate abortion” and “leaves no room for the EEOC’s interpretation of the statute.”
Court’s Order
Accordingly, the court’s order vacated the following:
- The portion of the final rule defining “related medical conditions” to the extent that it includes “abortion” as a “related medical condition” of pregnancy and childbirth; and
- Any implementing regulations or guidance inconsistent with the order “to the extent that they require or suggest to employers that they are required to provide employees with accommodation for purely elective abortions that are not necessary to treat a medical condition related to pregnancy[.]”
The court remanded the matter to the EEOC to revise the final rule and all related implementing regulations and guidance.
Employer Takeaways
While employers are no longer (as of now) required to provide accommodations for elective abortions, employers should be mindful of the following:
- The remainder of the PWFA remains in full effect.
- Employers still must provide accommodations for terminations of pregnancy or abortions stemming from the underlying treatment of a medical condition related to pregnancy.
- Federal law does not prohibit employers from providing accommodations for elective abortions, meaning that if an employer chooses to provide such accommodations, it can.
- The decision to have or not to have an abortion remains protected under Title VII, and employers cannot take adverse action against an employee for having an abortion.
- The PWFA does not supersede state or local laws providing greater protections for pregnant workers. Therefore, if employers are required to provide abortion-related accommodations under applicable state laws, they must do so, despite this court’s ruling.
If you have any questions related to the court’s order or need assistance reviewing your organization’s accommodation policies, please reach out to the NFC Attorney with whom you typically work or call us at 973.665.9100 or 619.292.0515.
