On the recordSeptember 13, 2017
This amendment prohibits the District of Columbia from spending its local funds to carry out a local antidiscrimination law, the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act. Unlike the D.C. Council which passed this law, no Member of this Congress was elected to legislate on local D.C. matters, or is accountable to the voters of the District of Columbia. This amendment gives employers the license to discriminate against employees, their spouses, and their dependents, based on their private, constitutionally protected reproductive decisions. This amendment permits employers to fire a woman for having an abortion due to rape, or to decline to hire a woman for using in vitro fertilization, or to fire a man for using condoms, or to reduce the salary of a parent for buying birth control for his or her child. Contrary to the sponsor's claim, the D.C. law does not require employers to provide insurance coverage for reproductive health decisions. Importantly, the law states expressly, here this language: ``This section shall not be construed to require an employer to provide insurance coverage related to a reproductive health decision.'' The D.C. law is valid under both the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Indeed, the law has been in effect for more than 2 years. It is now law. And there appear to have been no lawsuits challenging it. Under the U.S.…
