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A Misguided Sentiment

On May 23, State Representative Noreen Kokoruda (R-101) voted against House Bill 6668, “An Act Concerning Pregnant Women in the Workplace.” The bill ensures accommodations to pregnant women, including being allowed to sit while working, more frequent and longer breaks, and job restructuring, among other things.

Why would Ms. Kokoruda vote against protecting the rights of pregnant women in the workforce? Out of 72 Republicans in the Connecticut House, she was in the minority of 30 who voted against it. Opposition to the bill on the floor centered on its impact on small businesses, a canard often used by Republicans. In fact, this bill asks very little from businesses in order to recognize the important rights of women. Ms. Kokoruda’s vote against it reveals a misguided sentiment, that business should not be unnecessarily weighed down by concerns about the rights of their pregnant workers.

Call it free-market capitalism, laissez-faire economics, or neoliberalism—this unbalanced worldview has insidiously parked itself into every level of our civic discourse. You could sum it up in three words: money over people. Here locally we need to call it out when we see it. Votes such as Ms. Kokoruda’s reinforce an attitude, widespread across the country, that we can’t afford to protect each other’s rights.

Notwithstanding Rep. Kokoruda’s vote, House Bill 6668 did pass the Connecticut House and Senate.

Lynne Charles

Madison