Congrats, American women, you are now 2nd class citizens to Corporations!

[Suu]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

More or less, but there's a bit of nuance:

Federal legislation:
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, signed into law during President Bill Clinton's first term, guaranteed maternity leave to many new mothers across the nation. It mandated a maximum of 12 weeks unpaid leave to mothers for the purpose of attending to a newborn or newly adopted child. However, the act did not attain universal coverage as it included several limiting stipulations. In order to receive maternity leave, employees must work in a firm of 50 or more employees, maintain employment with the same business for 12 months and have accumulated at least 1,250 working hours over those 12 months.

State legislation:
Paid maternity leave by state
Many states have supplemented these federal regulations and provided more extensive maternity leave benefits. There are currently 25 states that expand upon federal legislation in some manner. Fourteen of these states, along with the District of Columbia, have addressed eligibility requirements by lowering the firm-size threshold from 50 or more employees down to as low as 10 employees.
Seven other states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have adopted more generous maternity leave lengths that allow longer absences for the purpose of child rearing. Moreover, some states have enacted legislation enhancing the benefits of leave programs. California, New Jersey and Washington, for instance, operate programs that require private-sector employers to pay their employees who utilize maternity leave at partial replacement rates. Similarly, three other states and the District of Columbia designate childbirth as a temporary disability thus guaranteeing mothers paid maternity leave through Disability Insurance (TDI) provisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave_in_the_United_States

Fucking hell, and I thought Irelands six months paid leave was stingy. So do single mothers just lose there jobs there?

It can happen, especially if it's a low wage job like serving or retail.

[Luna]

At least 26 states have laws requiring insurers that cover prescription drugs also provide coverage for any Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved contraceptive.  These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. An additional two states—Michigan and Montana—require insurance coverage of contraceptives as a result of administrative ruling or an Attorney General opinion. Two states—Texas and Virginia—require that employers be offered the option to include coverage of contraceptives within their health plans. Twenty-one states offer exemptions from contraceptive coverage, usually for religious reasons, for insurers or employers in their policies: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (administrative rule), Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. (These states are indicated with an * in the table below.) Several states require employers to notify employees of their refusal to provide contraceptive coverage.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/insurance-coverage-for-contraception-state-laws.aspx

States have already been wrangling with this for awhile, now.  Given that I know for certain that Hobby Lobby has a store in Massachusetts, and likely have locations in other states which do require they cover any FDA approved contraceptive, they will likely have to have multiple plans, one which DOES cover birth control, and one which doesn't.  This will likely increase their costs.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

More or less, but there's a bit of nuance:

Federal legislation:
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, signed into law during President Bill Clinton's first term, guaranteed maternity leave to many new mothers across the nation. It mandated a maximum of 12 weeks unpaid leave to mothers for the purpose of attending to a newborn or newly adopted child. However, the act did not attain universal coverage as it included several limiting stipulations. In order to receive maternity leave, employees must work in a firm of 50 or more employees, maintain employment with the same business for 12 months and have accumulated at least 1,250 working hours over those 12 months.

State legislation:
Paid maternity leave by state
Many states have supplemented these federal regulations and provided more extensive maternity leave benefits. There are currently 25 states that expand upon federal legislation in some manner. Fourteen of these states, along with the District of Columbia, have addressed eligibility requirements by lowering the firm-size threshold from 50 or more employees down to as low as 10 employees.
Seven other states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have adopted more generous maternity leave lengths that allow longer absences for the purpose of child rearing. Moreover, some states have enacted legislation enhancing the benefits of leave programs. California, New Jersey and Washington, for instance, operate programs that require private-sector employers to pay their employees who utilize maternity leave at partial replacement rates. Similarly, three other states and the District of Columbia designate childbirth as a temporary disability thus guaranteeing mothers paid maternity leave through Disability Insurance (TDI) provisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave_in_the_United_States

Fucking hell, and I thought Irelands six months paid leave was stingy. So do single mothers just lose there jobs there?

YEP.

[Suu]

At least 26 states have laws requiring insurers that cover prescription drugs also provide coverage for any Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved contraceptive.  These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. An additional two states—Michigan and Montana—require insurance coverage of contraceptives as a result of administrative ruling or an Attorney General opinion. Two states—Texas and Virginia—require that employers be offered the option to include coverage of contraceptives within their health plans. Twenty-one states offer exemptions from contraceptive coverage, usually for religious reasons, for insurers or employers in their policies: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (administrative rule), Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. (These states are indicated with an * in the table below.) Several states require employers to notify employees of their refusal to provide contraceptive coverage.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/insurance-coverage-for-contraception-state-laws.aspx

States have already been wrangling with this for awhile, now.  Given that I know for certain that Hobby Lobby has a store in Massachusetts, and likely have locations in other states which do require they cover any FDA approved contraceptive, they will likely have to have multiple plans, one which DOES cover birth control, and one which doesn't.  This will likely increase their costs.

Rhode Island has a store in Warwick, they're never busy, because, well, Rhode Island has the least amount of God anywhere thanks to the colonial charter (THANKS ROGER WILLIAMS!). New Hampshire, as far as I know so far, does not. It doesn't seem like a store that would be welcome here, even up in the parts that think they're Texas. You do not fuck with people's rights in New England. The last guy that did that ended up losing 13 colonies and got sent packing across the ocean. 

However, as I brought up before, Marbury VS Madison, whatever is upheld in SCOTUS immediately effects the sovereignty of the states and the states must oblige. If not, Rhode Island could, in theory, turn around and throw Hobby Lobby back to whatever fucking flyover state they came from for violating their state constitution, and they should have done it BEFORE this shit went down, instead of focusing on making calamari the official state appetizer.

[Suu]

I have decided that since businesses can now be protected under the Bill of Rights, that I wish to see Wal-Mart's well-regulated militia.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

At least 26 states have laws requiring insurers that cover prescription drugs also provide coverage for any Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved contraceptive.  These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. An additional two states—Michigan and Montana—require insurance coverage of contraceptives as a result of administrative ruling or an Attorney General opinion. Two states—Texas and Virginia—require that employers be offered the option to include coverage of contraceptives within their health plans. Twenty-one states offer exemptions from contraceptive coverage, usually for religious reasons, for insurers or employers in their policies: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (administrative rule), Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. (These states are indicated with an * in the table below.) Several states require employers to notify employees of their refusal to provide contraceptive coverage.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/insurance-coverage-for-contraception-state-laws.aspx

States have already been wrangling with this for awhile, now.  Given that I know for certain that Hobby Lobby has a store in Massachusetts, and likely have locations in other states which do require they cover any FDA approved contraceptive, they will likely have to have multiple plans, one which DOES cover birth control, and one which doesn't.  This will likely increase their costs.

Rhode Island has a store in Warwick, they're never busy, because, well, Rhode Island has the least amount of God anywhere thanks to the colonial charter (THANKS ROGER WILLIAMS!). New Hampshire, as far as I know so far, does not. It doesn't seem like a store that would be welcome here, even up in the parts that think they're Texas. You do not fuck with people's rights in New England. The last guy that did that ended up losing 13 colonies and got sent packing across the ocean. 

However, as I brought up before, Marbury VS Madison, whatever is upheld in SCOTUS immediately effects the sovereignty of the states and the states must oblige. If not, Rhode Island could, in theory, turn around and throw Hobby Lobby back to whatever fucking flyover state they came from for violating their state constitution, and they should have done it BEFORE this shit went down, instead of focusing on making calamari the official state appetizer.

Since this was a statutory decision, not a Constitutional one, I don't think this automatically applies at the state level. The Constitution applies across all jurisdictions, but Federal statue only has jurisdiction in interstate commerce. Intrastate commerce still falls to the states. I think this would work like minimum wage--the Federal regulation says that no state can have a minimum wage below a certain level, but other subdivisions of government can implement a higher one if they choose.

Since federal statute (according to 5 power drunk assholes) apparently sets the minimum set of benes businesses have to offer their employees at a level which does not include BC if the company has a religious problem with sluts and the like, states/counties/cities should still be free to up that minimum to include BC as a requirement for operating within their jurisdiction.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

...and at this point, I just pretty much

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jul/01/sally-kohn/did-hobby-lobby-once-provide-birth-control-coverag/

"Hobby Lobby provided this coverage before they decided to drop it to file suit, which was politically motivated," she said.

We can't determine if politics motivated the company, but we did wonder whether Hobby Lobby covered the types of birth control at issue in its lawsuit but dropped the coverage before filing its complaint.

The short answer: Yes.

[LMNO]

FB is incredible.  Look at this:

Just like Citizens United, when the government over steps its bounds, there are unintended consequences that they either completely ignore or willfully omit. No Citizens United decision, no unlimited corporate spending. No ACA, no law suits over who pays for what or picking and choosing which pieces of the law will be followed and which will not. There is one single common denominator of all of this; an activist government. I'm as pro choice as they come, IN ALL aspects of the human condition, not just woman's issues....

and now Muslim business owners can essentially deny life saving heart valve replacements cause they are made from pigs. Mormons can reinstate their polygamy practices and on and on it goes. These are the unintended consequences of government intervention of which I speak. They do it over and over again, you'd think Americans would catch on by now, but no. They just move to the next issue du jour cause it's too hard to follow.

[Ben Shapiro]

Businesses owned by the Houston Free Thinkers can send workers only to that "Quantum Touch" guy instead of the ER.

[LMNO]

Oh, good.  SCOTUS just announced that the ruling applies to all contraception, not just the ones mentioned in the case.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/scotus-says-hobby-lobby-ruling-applies-broadly

[Suu]

Oh, good.  SCOTUS just announced that the ruling applies to all contraception, not just the ones mentioned in the case.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/scotus-says-hobby-lobby-ruling-applies-broadly

Because why wait?

Fucking shit on a shingle. I love being a slutty woman in America that takes slut pills.

[LMNO]

What's going through my head is, "this is what you get when you decide not to aim for single-payer healthcare."

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

What's going through my head is, "this is what you get when you decide not to aim for single-payer healthcare."

There are so many, many "when you...." that could go at the end of that "this is what you get."

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

FB is incredible.  Look at this:

Just like Citizens United, when the government over steps its bounds, there are unintended consequences that they either completely ignore or willfully omit. No Citizens United decision, no unlimited corporate spending. No ACA, no law suits over who pays for what or picking and choosing which pieces of the law will be followed and which will not. There is one single common denominator of all of this; an activist government. I'm as pro choice as they come, IN ALL aspects of the human condition, not just woman's issues....

and now Muslim business owners can essentially deny life saving heart valve replacements cause they are made from pigs. Mormons can reinstate their polygamy practices and on and on it goes. These are the unintended consequences of government intervention of which I speak. They do it over and over again, you'd think Americans would catch on by now, but no. They just move to the next issue du jour cause it's too hard to follow.

Yeah, it's totally government intervention that did this, because deciding not to regulate something is exactly the same as government interference.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

At least 26 states have laws requiring insurers that cover prescription drugs also provide coverage for any Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved contraceptive.  These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. An additional two states—Michigan and Montana—require insurance coverage of contraceptives as a result of administrative ruling or an Attorney General opinion. Two states—Texas and Virginia—require that employers be offered the option to include coverage of contraceptives within their health plans. Twenty-one states offer exemptions from contraceptive coverage, usually for religious reasons, for insurers or employers in their policies: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (administrative rule), Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. (These states are indicated with an * in the table below.) Several states require employers to notify employees of their refusal to provide contraceptive coverage.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/insurance-coverage-for-contraception-state-laws.aspx

States have already been wrangling with this for awhile, now.  Given that I know for certain that Hobby Lobby has a store in Massachusetts, and likely have locations in other states which do require they cover any FDA approved contraceptive, they will likely have to have multiple plans, one which DOES cover birth control, and one which doesn't.  This will likely increase their costs.

Rhode Island has a store in Warwick, they're never busy, because, well, Rhode Island has the least amount of God anywhere thanks to the colonial charter (THANKS ROGER WILLIAMS!). New Hampshire, as far as I know so far, does not. It doesn't seem like a store that would be welcome here, even up in the parts that think they're Texas. You do not fuck with people's rights in New England. The last guy that did that ended up losing 13 colonies and got sent packing across the ocean. 

However, as I brought up before, Marbury VS Madison, whatever is upheld in SCOTUS immediately effects the sovereignty of the states and the states must oblige. If not, Rhode Island could, in theory, turn around and throw Hobby Lobby back to whatever fucking flyover state they came from for violating their state constitution, and they should have done it BEFORE this shit went down, instead of focusing on making calamari the official state appetizer.

Since this was a statutory decision, not a Constitutional one, I don't think this automatically applies at the state level. The Constitution applies across all jurisdictions, but Federal statue only has jurisdiction in interstate commerce. Intrastate commerce still falls to the states. I think this would work like minimum wage--the Federal regulation says that no state can have a minimum wage below a certain level, but other subdivisions of government can implement a higher one if they choose.

Since federal statute (according to 5 power drunk assholes) apparently sets the minimum set of benes businesses have to offer their employees at a level which does not include BC if the company has a religious problem with sluts and the like, states/counties/cities should still be free to up that minimum to include BC as a requirement for operating within their jurisdiction.

Right, in other words this won't impact coverage in Oregon at all, but I imagine employees in Texas and Florida are fucked.