I’m a union steward. I am familiar with the federal and state laws relevant to this issue and with the ins-and-outs of the health care plan for my Local (27 Locals are covered under that plan). Since you claim to be such an expert, again—cite just one law, anywhere, that mandates more time off for pregnancy than for any other medical condition. That “six weeks” you are citing isn’t specified in any law—it is a health-care industry standard. Many women in the U.S. aren’t covered by a health care plan, so they aren’t getting any six weeks of anything. The FMLA mandates 12 weeks per year of unpaid leave for those who qualify—but that is for any medical leave (for yourself or a family member) or adoption of a child (for which both men and women qualify). Again, where is the “special” pregnancy benefits?

But funny that you, a physician, claim that six weeks, even after a c-section, is too much leave. From what I’ve seen, six weeks seems to be the health-care industry standard for a lot of injuries (particularly those requiring a cast and/or crutches). Are you saying that I was perfectly physically fit to return to construction work two or three weeks after my classic “C”? (“oh no, Lubu—but that’s a exception. Women who work construction are rare.”) Well, what about waitresses, baristas, nurses, physical therapists, store clerks, custodians/janitors, housekeepers, packing-house workers, etc.? There are all kinds of women working long hours on their feet, and/or lifting significant weight. Believe it or not, there’s a hell of a lot of women who don’t have a sedentary job.

I call bullshit. I’ve heard this complaint before, about how women who don’t return to work a week after pregnancy are “milking the system”. I’ve even heard it in the form of “back in the old days, you people (can be used for various ethnicites; it’s been used against me, a Sicilian) would just drop a kid right out in the field, and go back to work right there! Women were women, then!” I have yet to hear one peep about anyone with a badly sprained ankle taking six weeks off, even if they have a desk job (because the daily commute would be too grueling). Bah.

And I’ve never heard of a woman getting disability pay prior to delivery. Cite some proof, please. I also sit on the Trades and Labor council here, which covers everybody (many unions), even the folks with the cushy desk jobs ;-). None of those locals have plans that start the disability pay before an actual disability occurs, either (I asked—I wanted to know what other union women were dealing with).

That said, I agree with most of what has been said her about that athlete. He is completely wrong.

As a physician who has worked in the OB and disability industry for many years, I can say that pregnancy is indeed treated differently. Any woman who is covered by a disability policy, whether state or private (I admit I am not an expert on every policy in every state), gets an automatic presumption of disability and gets a check. This usually begins about 2 weeks before the delivery date (but not always) and generally extends at least 6 weeks post partum.

There is no medical reason for 6 weeks post partum. I know, I know, we can all tell the story about our sister or cousin or co-worker who had this or that complication. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about your run-of-the-mill pregnancy, routine delivery and uncomplicated post-partum period. Even a c-section shouldn’t require 6 weeks to recovery.

We women should be honest enough to admit that the reality is that the presumed 6 weeks is for childcare and bonding.

I don’t agree that this is “sentimental crap” but it is also a false argument to compare it to prostate cancer.

Marriage is a contract, one that 50% of people who enter into it in the US break.

This is mostly a quibble, but they don’t break it. They withdraw from it.

Marriage is just a legal contract. All romance aside, that’s what it is, plain and simple. All this hoopla over “marriage is sacred” is BS. Marriage is a contract, one that 50% of people who enter into it in the US break.

All that other stuff, love, romance, etc… suddenly it’s more valid than before the contract? Again, I call BS. It’s all legal. Marriage was origionally created as a way to SELL women/girls (treating them like property instead of human beings, y’know)… so I guess you can see why I don’t have much awe or respect for its “sanctity”.

Love is love with or without marriage, so all anyone really is arguing about when they argue for or against gay marriage is whether or not two consenting adults can enter into a legal contract…. um…. doesn’t it seem kinda preposterous that its even an issue?

This may be sarcastic, but it’s also completely disingenuous. It’s the state of pregnancy and the state of marriage that are being compared, not the ability to become pregnant and the ability to marry.

We can have laws that affect all pregnant individuals in the same way, regardless of how they became pregnant and why they became pregnant and who their partner is and who their embryo/fetus/baby/whatever is–they’re predicated solely on the fact that the person is pregnant. They don’t restrict the ability of someone to become pregnant in any way, shape, or form, nor do they try to control that pregnancy.

Likewise, we should have have laws that affect all married people the same and don’t restrict the ability of anyone to become married or control that marriage.

Of course, they really aren’t comparable at all, since pregnancy is a biological issue and marriage a purely social one, so the argument is 100% irrelevant. But I’m sure you knew that.

Only if I never wanted to work as an electrician again. Women who sue for sex discrimination are blacklisted—it only works in your favor if you work for a government entity. I work off a hiring hall book, and contractors have the right of refusal for any (or no) reason. I processed an FMLA claim through the Department of Labor and won; a much faster process which had the benefit of me retaining my health insurance (very necessary, since my daughter was a preemie. I would have been bankrupted without it.).

So are broken arms or other injuries. With a little more care (and a little less beer), those guys who were given as much time as they needed could have easily avoided falling out of the tree stand and off the roof, respectively. Meanwhile, I was using birth control that failed. You could say that I should have had an abortion, but I didn’t want one. I would regard a medically unnecessary abortion on my own body to be every bit the violation that a rape would be. And it shouldn’t be up to anyone’s employer whether or not they should procreate.

Pregnancy is, in many respects, more similar to elective surgery.

Not at all. Many pregnancies are unplanned, and no pregnancy has the level of control that elective surgery does (unless you are talking about the choice to terminate). Pregnancies can be quite unpredictable from start to finish, unlike most any elective surgery. Luckily, most pregnancies don’t involve any medical complications, and most women don’t need time off before the birth.

Let’s get real. When women were routinely getting fired for being pregnant, it wasn’t for any medical issue. It was because of the myths that “good mothers don’t work (for pay)” and “women who have kids just quit and stay home anyway”. I’m old enough to remember when the women’s magazines had comments in the “career advice” columns to not enough bother applying for jobs if you are visibly pregnant.

But I think it’s more than a little dishonest to claim the pregnancy doesn’t get you special protections/privileges, as it obviously does.

Come again? No Sailorman, you are being dishonest if you are claiming that there are laws that give pregnant women “extra” time off, or “extra” protection that is not extended for any other medical issue. What the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does is prohibit an employer from discriminating against a woman on the basis of her pregnancy. It provides her the same protection as others enjoy; that she will be treated the same as if she were not pregnant. That’s not a “special” right.

Feel free to provide a link to the section of FMLA that provides more time off for pregnancy.