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Statement

Major Victory for Moms and Families as Measures to Support Pregnant and Breastfeeding Workers Are Poised for Passage by Congress!

December 22, 2022
Breastfeeding, Maternal Health, Federal Budget, Immigration

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of leaders of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the inclusion of the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in the Fiscal Year 2023 federal budget:

“The country’s moms and families won a major, meaningful, long overdue victory today when the U.S. Senate included the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in the FY23 budget bill. When lawmakers enact these two essential measures, breastfeeding moms will no longer be forced to pump breastmilk in bathrooms, cars, closets and cafeterias; and fewer pregnant workers will be forced out of their jobs because employers deny them reasonable accommodations like carrying water bottles and taking more bathroom breaks. Both these measures will especially help low-income women and women of color, and they will make America’s moms and families more economically secure.”

-Statement of Tina Sherman, Senior Campaign Director for Maternal Justice, MomsRising

“Finally! When the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act become law, moms and moms-to-be will have common-sense protections we all deserve. Still, we are disappointed that some airline workers were excluded from the protections in the PUMP Act. We will work in the months ahead to change that, to give them the same protections other workers will soon have.

“We were relieved, as well, that the U.S. Senate voted down some terribly harmful amendments that would have caused great harm to asylum-seekers.

“Although it is far from perfect and excludes measures of vital importance to moms and families, we look forward to final congressional passage of this budget and to President Biden signing it into law. This brings some of the progress moms and families have been counting on – and we will look to the next Congress to build on it.”

-Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.