Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Women Speak Out About Pregnancy Discrimination Following Furor Over Talking Point In Warren's Stump Speech
The Wall Street Journal: Warren Urges Women To Speak Out After Her Firing Story Is Questioned
Sen. Elizabeth Warren brushed aside questions this week surrounding her account of getting fired from a teaching job in the 1970s because she was pregnant and is instead attempting to turn the situation into a larger conversation about women in the workplace. The Massachusetts Democrat’s description of her ouster from a New Jersey public school when she was visibly pregnant in 1971 is a signature part of her speech at campaign events. Reports emerged this week that she had told the story in the past without mentioning she was dismissed, and that local records showed she was offered a job for 1971-72, the school year after her pregnancy. (Jamerson, 10/9)
The Hill: Warren Urges Women To Share Stories Of Pregnancy Discrimination In Wake Of Accusations She Lied About Losing Job
“When I was 22 and finishing my first year of teaching, I had an experience millions of women will recognize. By June I was visibly pregnant — and the principal told me the job I'd already been promised for the next year would go to someone else,” Warren tweeted Tuesday, repeating a story she’s told on the campaign trail. “This was 1971, years before Congress outlawed pregnancy discrimination — but we know it still happens in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. We can fight back by telling our stories. I tell mine on the campaign trail, and I hope to hear yours,” she added. (Klar, 10/8)
NBC News: Women Rally In Support Of Elizabeth Warren By Sharing Their Own Pregnancy Discrimination Stories
Women are sharing their stories on social media of pregnancy discrimination in support of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who came under attack from conservative outlets this week over her claim that she had been fired in 1971 for being pregnant. "[I]f you don't understand what this furor over the Elizabeth Warren pregnancy firing story is about, ask pretty much any woman in your life over 35," culture writer Anne Helen Petersen wrote on Twitter, prompting some to respond with their personal experiences. (Egan, 10/9)
Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren Shares Stories Of Other Women Who Experienced Pregnancy Discrimination
The Massachusetts senator read the story of Twitter user Cathy S., who wrote “My mother hid her pregnancy with me in 1964 for as long as she could until it was too obvious and then they fired her. It was pretty standard practice.” Warren read another from Twitter user Emilia Merchen, who said “I was fired the day after notifying of my pregnancy. And was told it was because ‘I wasn’t likeable enough.’ I got a lawyer and a settlement.” (Matheson, 10/9)
Vox: Elizabeth Warren Says She Lost Her Job When She Got Pregnant. Thousands Of Women Every Year Say The Same.
Until 1978, pregnancy discrimination was legal in America, Gedmark said. If an employer wanted to fire someone for getting pregnant in 1971, the year Warren says she was let go from her teaching job, there would have been nothing to stop it. Seven years later, workers got some protection with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which bars employers from firing or demoting people because they are pregnant. The law also says that employers must treat pregnant workers the same way they would treat others with a similar ability to work. So if the employer would grant light duty to someone with an injury preventing them from lifting heavy objects, that employer is supposed to let a pregnant worker with a similar limitation work light duty as well. (North, 10/9)
HuffPost: Women On Twitter Share Pregnancy Discrimination Stories For Elizabeth Warren
On Tuesday, after Warren’s tweets, people on Twitter shared their own experiences of job discrimination due to pregnancy, or those of their friends and family. Here are some of those stories (Harvey, 10/8)
