What If Pregnancy Came With a Pink Slip?

May 5, 2009 -- Carrie Lukas, like many working moms, has had to deal with being pregnant at work. Lukas, a vice president at the Independent Women's Forum, often writes and speaks out about social issues. This past summer, Lukas became pregnant with her third child.

"This will be my third maternity leave in four years, and it does mean that I have to take time off," said Lukas.

Pregnancy leave is an ingrained feature of the American workplace, ensuring that women won't face termination for starting families. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act says it is illegal to fire, or not hire, a woman because she is pregnant.

But moms like Lukas say the law has unintended consequences.

"If my employer decides they no longer want me as an employee, then it should be their right to fire me," said Lukas. "I understand the desire for people to have the government step in and try to protect women, but there's real costs to government intervention."

These costs are rarely talked about publicly. But it is just a fact that some employers avoid hiring people who fall into special, Congress-protected groups. After the Americans With Disabilities Act became law, it was assumed many more disabled people would enter the workplace, but a study by MIT economists found that employment actually "dropped sharply."

Holly Waters also took time off when her daughter was born. But in Holly's case, she had no choice. When she became pregnant, she was a sales consultant for the drug maker Novartis. She said she was a top performer with a promising career, but when she told her boss she was pregnant, she said, things changed.

"I was almost being pushed out the door," explained Waters.

And then, when she was about to go on maternity leave, she was fired.

"I was 7½ months pregnant. There was no way I was going to be able to go out and find a job at this point," said Waters.

Today, employers are warned that in job interviews you must never even ask questions like "Might you start a family?" But if Congress thought the Pregnancy Discrimination Act would end discrimination, it was wrong. In recent years, complaints have steadily gone up.