Free Republic

It began as a compassionate new policy, one that makes perfect sense: women (and sometimes, their partners) who lose a baby through miscarriage should be entitled to paid time off to mourn and recover. The movement first came to prominence in March of 2021, when New Zealand passed a new law. NPR reported that “New Zealand’s Parliament has approved legislation that will provide three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, without needing to use sick leave.” And indeed, the loss of a pregnancy can be not only heart-breaking but also physically harrowing. This is a humane policy....

Feminism is the enemy of Mothers. By demonising men and heterosexuality, feminism attacks the essential need of mothers to have men who can participate freely in family life. Who agrees? Feminism has liberated women to the workplace but then does not support parental leave for mothers. It was only a conservative Prime Minister in Tony Abbott who seriously addressed good parental leave for mothers in Australia. What is President Trump’s record like on this issue?

When it comes to supporting families, paid parental leave is a solution to a number of problems. Studies show that paid leave can reduce infant mortality, increase breastfeeding rates, can improve maternal mental health and strengthen the connection between fathers and babies. There are a ton of benefits to parental leave, ones that American families should be seeing, but aren't. While some employers have been modernizing parental leave policies, federal policy lags behind. The last major policy change came in 1993, when the Family and Medical Leave Act passed with bipartisan support, guarantees more than half of American workers 12...

Federal employees, like other American workers, are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave after the birth of a child. It's just not paid leave. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to change that, though. And at least one of the group's members believes that legislation to establish a paid parental leave policy for federal employees has a serious shot at passing this Congress. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has rolled out two bills that would provide at least eight weeks of paid maternity leave for civil servants, and paternity benefits as well. One bill (S. 80) would provide...