Lafayette, Louisiana - A federal judge in Louisiana has struck down workplace regulations requiring the provision of time off and other accommodations for people receiving abortion care.

The decision concerned a challenge to last year's move by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to extend accommodations requirements under the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) in cases of abortion.

The PWFA – which applies to employers with at least 15 workers – was a landmark piece of legislation to expand the rights for pregnant and postpartum employees, including longer breaks, shorter working hours, and time off for medical appointments.

Along with several prominent Catholic institutions, the states of Louisiana and Mississippi – both of which have near-total abortion bans on the books – objected to the EEOC's rules applying the PWFA in cases of pregnancy termination.

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"The EEOC has exceeded its statutory authority to implement the PWFA and, in doing so, both unlawfully expropriated the authority of Congress and encroached upon the sovereignty of the Plaintiff States under basic principles of federalism," US District Judge David Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana wrote in his Wednesday ruling, per the Associated Press.

The Donald Trump appointee went on to say that had Congress intended to include abortion under the PWFA, "it would have spoken clearly when enacting the statute, particularly given the enormous social, religious, and political importance of the abortion issue in our nation at this time."

A Better Balance, which advocates for workplace rights for women and caregivers, slammed the decision as "another attack on women's rights and reproductive freedom."