Chuck Darwin<p>Federal judge blocks employee abortion, IVF protections <br>at thousands of Catholic employers nationwide</p><p>The group that brought the challenge to a new federal policy argues it cannot be forced to accommodate <br>"immoral infertility 'treatments.'"</p><p>A federal judge in North Dakota issued an <a href="https://c.im/tags/injunction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>injunction</span></a> on Monday ❌blocking the🔸 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission🔸 from protecting <br>any employees of any members of a nationwide Catholic association <br>who are seeking time off or other accommodations under the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pregnant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pregnant</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Workers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Workers</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Fairness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fairness</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Act" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Act</span></a> <br>for an ♦️abortion or <br>♦️in vitro fertilization ( <a href="https://c.im/tags/IVF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IVF</span></a> ) treatment.<br> <br>U.S. District Judge <a href="https://c.im/tags/Daniel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Daniel</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Traynor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Traynor</span></a>, a Trump appointee to the federal court in North Dakota, issued the🔸 religion-infused preliminary injunction🔸 to partially<br> 🆘 block enforcement of an EEOC rule implementing the 2022 law, <br>👉along with related implementation of Title VII of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Civil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Civil</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Rights</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Act" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Act</span></a> of 1964, </p><p>as to the Catholic Benefits Association and its members <br>— current or future <br>— <a href="https://c.im/tags/nationwide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nationwide</span></a>. </p><p>The order covers ⚠️more than 8,000 employers<br>— including thousands of churches <br>— across the country.</p><p>The <a href="https://c.im/tags/PWFA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PWFA</span></a> was passed in December 2022 and is supposed to protect covered workers from discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” <br>by, in part, requiring employers to provide employees with reasonable accommodations. </p><p>The EEOC proposed its implementing rule for the PWFA in August 2023, <br>stating in part that abortion and fertility treatment, including IVF, <br>are covered by the law’s protections. </p><p>That rule, which does not relate to insurance coverage, went into effect in June.</p><p>Judge Traynor concluded that the CBA is likely to succeed in its challenge to the rule and related Title VII enforcement guidance under the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act". </p><p>Any appeal would go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, <br>which only has one Democratic appointee among its 11 judges.</p><p><a href="https://www.lawdork.com/p/federal-judge-injunction-cba-pwfa-abortion-ivf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">lawdork.com/p/federal-judge-in</span><span class="invisible">junction-cba-pwfa-abortion-ivf</span></a></p>