FBI agents reach agreement with Christian business group over abortion and gender-based worker protections

The William L. Guy Federal Building in Bismarck. A North Dakota-based Christian employers group filed a lawsuit a year ago against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over Biden-era regulations related to abortion and gender identity. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed this month with a Christian business group to ignore rules that allow workers to seek abortion-related accommodations and ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity.

Margaret Iuculano, president of the Christian Employers Alliance, whose organization sued the EEOC over the two provisions in January 2025, said in a opinion Monday that the deal would be a “huge win” for companies that want to operate in accordance with their religion. The CEOs of Hobby Lobby, Regent Bank and AllBetter Health serve on the board of the North Dakota-based nonprofit, which has more than 22,000 members nationwide.

The regulations issued under former President Joe Biden’s administration were already invalidated decided by federal courts last year, but the settlement reached by the EEOC could foreshadow a move to repeal or rewrite rules enforcing a landmark law on pregnant workers. An EEOC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

“As attacks on women’s reproductive choices continue to escalate, we are disappointed, but not surprised, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sided with the Christian Employers Alliance in federal court and relieved many large Christian employers of their obligation to protect workers seeking abortions,” Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, said in a statement to States Newsroom.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness ActThe law, which went into effect in 2023, requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations — such as extra bathroom breaks, a stool to sit on and time off for medical appointments — as long as the requirements do not impose an “undue hardship” on the company.

According to a report dated January 9th Court order Signed by a North Dakota district judge, the EEOC agreed that current and future alliance members will not be penalized for refusing to allow abortions, forcing employees to adhere to gender-specific dress codes, or directing employees to exploit private spaces that are inconsistent with their gender identity.

Under the terms, the agreement will expire when the EEOC issues recent Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations and revises or repeals gender identity compliance policies Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965which prohibits discrimination in the workplace.

“The agreement does not prevent the EEOC from investigating allegations of unlawful conduct not expressly covered by this agreement, even if they are brought under the same charge alleging non-enforcement conduct against the CEA or its members,” the order states.

Andrea Lucas, the chairwoman of the EEOC, has said she supports the pregnant worker bill overall disagrees that abortion should be included in the definition of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” when interpreting the measure.

She has that too said The agency will reconsider the law’s provisions once Republican quorum on the commission is restored. The Senate voted to confirm Brittany Bull Panuccio. the newest commissionerin October during the government shutdown.

Lucas too rejected harassment policies A statement issued by Biden administration officials said employers should respect workers’ pronouns and allow employees to exploit restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, said the laws’ provisions “clearly cover employees’ ability to make reasonable accommodations for ‘pregnancy-related medical conditions,’ which has long been interpreted to include abortion and other essential reproductive health care such as IVF. We will continue to fight to keep the PWFA’s provisions intact and as stringent as possible, as the EEOC appears poised to reopen them and potentially narrow the scope of the law.”