The Ethics of Maternity Leave

As a result of the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, women were not allowed to be discriminated against in the workplace due to pregnancy. This was a tremendous step forward at the time, guaranteeing women job security during a mandated unpaid leave. However, the protection of pregnant women's rights has not come very far since then. According to a segment from John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, the only countries in the entire United Nations that do not promise women paid maternity leave are the United States and Papua New Guinea. In the United States, even the federally mandated unpaid leave is fairly limited. It only applies to companies which have 50 or more employees and to employees who are full-time, salaried, and have been with a company for over a year.  Of course, many women are provided with paid maternity leave by their employers, but according to Oliver that number is only about 60 percent of women.

This means that many of the new mothers of this remaining 40 percent are forced back into work early for financial reasons. These mothers must immediately learn to juggle a newborn child in addition to their full-time job. But, it shouldn't be like that.

Last year, the Democratic party created the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (FMIL), which specifically outlines that workers receive that workers receive 12 weeks of paid family leave (maternity and paternity) at two thirds of normal monthly wages. However as of the end of last year,  it hasn't been passed as zero Republicans have offered their support so far. As Oliver explained it, this is because many people believe that at this point in time "'the country's businesses are saddled with two many regulatory burdens'", and republicans believe the bill is "'anti-business'" and "'anti-growth'". This seems insensitive but there must be some truth behind it. Only three states, California, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, currently mandate paid maternity leave. Even if the plan of the FMIL act is so harmful to business, is that the kind of country that America wants to live in? 

Should business come before family values? Or should the United States join the rest of the world and mandate paid maternity leave for new mothers to welcome their children to the world?