Biden admin rule jeopardizes supportive work culture for pregnant women
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake regarding a public comment ADF attorneys submitted Monday urging the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to withdraw its proposed rule that hijacks a bipartisan law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, to impose an abortion mandate on virtually every employer in the country, even those whose religious beliefs dictate that life begins at conception:
“The Biden administration’s new rule jeopardizes a supportive work culture for pregnant women by introducing abortion into federal law in a place where Congress has not authorized it. Congress sought to help pregnant workers, not force employers to facilitate abortions. The administration is hijacking a bipartisan law that doesn’t even mention abortion to punish employers that promote the right to life and to restrict the hiring practices for pro-life and religious nonprofit organizations. This unlawful proposal seeks to illegally override state laws protecting the unborn and employers’ pro-life and religious beliefs. The administration and the EEOC don’t have the legal authority to smuggle an abortion mandate into a pro-life, pro-woman law.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Julie Marie Blake
Julie Marie Blake serves as senior counsel for regulatory litigation at Alliance Defending Freedom. Over the last decade, she has been on the front lines of high-profile, precedent-setting cases challenging federal overreach in courts across the country. Blake served as deputy solicitor general for the state of Missouri from 2017 to 2020 and as assistant solicitor general for the state of West Virginia from 2013 to 2017. In these roles, she argued 26 federal and state appeals, including before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Before entering government service in 2013, Blake was a litigation associate at Baker Botts L.L.P., where she served as volunteer amicus counsel in several ADF cases, including Town of Greece v. Galloway. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2009. She received her B.A. in Politics and Theology & Religious Studies phi beta kappa from the Catholic University of America in 2006. She is a 2007 Blackstone Fellow. Blake is admitted to practice in multiple states, the Supreme Court, and in many federal district and appellate courts.