[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-321884-105":59,"doc-detail-321884-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-politics-of-pregnancy-accommodation-paper","The Politics of Pregnancy Accommodation - Paper","","The Politics of Pregnancy Accommodation examines how U.S. antidiscrimination law handles pregnancy in the workplace, tracing decades of legal and political conflict over what “equality” means. It explains why sex discrimination rules alone did not clearly require accommodations for pregnant workers, influenced by gender stereotypes and evolving feminist strategies. The article compares sameness, difference, and reconstructive approaches and reviews how Supreme Court precedent and legislation shaped current pregnancy accommodation requirements.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-politics-of-pregnancy-accommodation-paper/321884/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-politics-of-pregnancy-accommodation-paper/321884.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Marry","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is pregnancy accommodation legally complex under antidiscrimination law?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Pregnancy is a biological difference affecting work for women, creating a tension in how to treat employees “equally.” If employers treat pregnancy as relevant, women may be disadvantaged; if ignored, women may lack protections when work conditions become harder during pregnancy.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What three approaches to gender equality does the article compare?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The article contrasts a formal “sameness” approach, a substantive “difference” approach, and a “reconstructive” approach. The reconstructive view aims to move beyond comparing women to men and instead critique gendered workplace structures.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the article connect feminist advocacy to legal development?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It describes decades of internal political conflict and how different feminist strategies supported working pregnant employees. The article argues these efforts helped modern advocates push the law beyond limited comparisons and toward closing remaining accommodation gaps.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},321884,1791331750,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":36},5909892079670,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","The Politics of Pregnancy Accommodation  \nStephanie Bornstein*  \nHow can antidiscrimination law treat men and women “equally” when it comes to the issue of pregnancy? The development of U.S. law on pregnancy accommodation in the workplace tells a story of both legal disagreements about the meaning of “equality” and political disagreements about how best to achieve “equality” at work for women. Federal law has prohibited sex discrimination in the workplace for over five decades. Yet, due to long held gender stereotypes separating work and motherhood, the idea that prohibiting sex discrimination requires a duty to accommodate pregnant workers is a relatively recent phenomenon—and still only partially required by federal law.  \nThis Article documents how decades of internal political conflict about what was best for working women resulted in tortured Supreme Court precedent on, and divergent legislative approaches to, accommodating pregnancy at work. While a diverse feminist movement took a variety of strategies to support pregnant workers, this Article focuses on one core debate in antidiscrimination law: the struggle between a formal or “sameness” and a substantive or “difference” approach to gender equality around pregnancy. It then documents how a third, “reconstructive” approach helped modern advocates move beyond comparing women to men as workers and toward critiquing gendered workplace structures. Striking a hopeful tone, the Article proposes that gender advocates’ legal and political gains have now set the stage for U.S. law to close the remaining gaps in pregnancy accommodation—to fully reflect the fact that pregnant women work and that a significant portion of workers become pregnant.  \nINTRODUCTION ................................................. 294  \nI. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PREGNANCY AND WORK LAW: EVERY WOMAN FOR HERSELF .................................... 296  \nA. Protectionism & Exclusion (1800s-1964) .................. 297  \nB. Hostile Inclusion (1964-1978) ............................ 300  \nC. Every Woman for Herself (1979-2015) .................... 303  \nII. DEFINING THE MOVEMENT FOR PREGNANCY ACCOMMODATION: “THE SAME AS” WHAT? ............... 305  \nA. Sameness Feminism, Formal Equality, and the Federal Law Approach............................................... 305  \nB. Difference Feminism, Substantive Equality, and the California Law Approach ................................ 307  \nC. Reconstructing Feminism: Degendering Workplace Structures .. 310  \nIII. FILLING IN THE PATCHWORK OF PREGNANCY ACCOMMODATION REQUIREMENTS ........................ 311  \nA. Current Case Law: Young v. United Parcel Service ........ 311  \nB. Current Statutory Law: Toward Pregnant Worker Fairness .. 314  \nCONCLUSION ................................................... 316  \n* Associate Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law. My thanks to Joan C. Williams for her helpful feedback on a draft of this Article.  \n294 Harvard Law & Policy Review [Vol. 14  \nINTRODUCTION  \nProhibiting sex discrimination in the workplace seems like a simple proposition: treat men and women equally. Do not assume that whether an employee is a man, a woman, or gender non-binary relates to their ability to perform the job. Then keep any gender biases in check and behave similarly toward all employees.1  \nBut how do you treat men and women “equally” when one actual, biological difference between men and women—pregnancy—impacts their work? While all employees have the potential to become parents, only female employees2 may become pregnant for nine months, during which most will continue to work as long as possible.3 This creates a Catch-22 for those seeking gender equality at work. Acknowledge this biological difference, and it may be used against women in employment decisions—for example, when an employer passes an employee over for promotion based on the assumption that she may become pregnant and need leave.4 Ignore this difference, and women","cbCaibgDsrPjJyKq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibgDsrPjJyKq","pdf",125605,26,"English","# Introduction\n## A brief history of pregnancy and work law\n## Defining the movement for pregnancy accommodation: “The same as” what?\n## Filling in the patchwork of pregnancy accommodation requirements\n# Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"Why is pregnancy accommodation legally complex under antidiscrimination law?\",\"answer\":\"Pregnancy is a biological difference affecting work for women, creating a tension in how to treat employees “equally.” If employers treat pregnancy as relevant, women may be disadvantaged; if ignored, women may lack protections when work conditions become harder during pregnancy.\"},{\"question\":\"What three approaches to gender equality does the article compare?\",\"answer\":\"The article contrasts a formal “sameness” approach, a substantive “difference” approach, and a “reconstructive” approach. The reconstructive view aims to move beyond comparing women to men and instead critique gendered workplace structures.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article connect feminist advocacy to legal development?\",\"answer\":\"It describes decades of internal political conflict and how different feminist strategies supported working pregnant employees. The article argues these efforts helped modern advocates push the law beyond limited comparisons and toward closing remaining accommodation gaps.\"}]","The Politics of Pregnancy Accommodation - Paper | PDF",1789960491]