The Switch Up — Pregnant worker protections: In conversation with the ACLU’s Gillian Thomas

In our last two episodes, The Switch Up talked about the maternal mortality crisis — how it disproportionately affects Black and brown Americans, the struggle of incarcerated pregnant people and the activists and political leaders who are trying to end the crisis. 

Today, we’re delving into this crisis just a little bit more — and the decadelong fight to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). 

The PWFA is the first federal workplace protections act for pregnant people enacted in 45 years. The law’s new regulations are set to be released any day, and these new regulations protect pregnant workers’ right to take time off for medical treatment, recovery from childbirth and even the right to travel to obtain abortion care. 

In this special episode of The Switch Up, The Hill sat down with Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project, to talk about these new regulations and how they can help end the maternal mortality crisis.

Listen above.

The Switch Up podcast series — hosted by The Hill’s Cheyanne M. Daniels — explores the intersection of race and politics through intimate conversations with leading scholars, advocates and legislators from communities of color.