A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked enforcement of a rule in two states that required employers to provide accommodations to employees who want to undergo elective abortions, with the judge siding with plaintiffs who argued that abortions aren’t “medical conditions” that employers must facilitate.
U.S. District Judge David Joseph announced the ruling in an order filed on June 17 at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, granting a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which he found exceeded its authority in implementing the rule.
The EEOC “exceeded its statutory authority” in issuing the rule and “unlawfully expropriated the authority of Congress and encroached upon the sovereignty of the States Plaintiffs,” wrote Judge Joseph….