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Ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh City Code, Title One Administrative, Article XI Human Resources, Chapter 189 Leaves of Absence, Section 189.02 Loss of Pregnancy by adding language to establish fully paid
bereavement leave for every City employee who experiences pregnancy loss.
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WHEREAS, pregnancy loss generally occurs in the form of miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination; and
WHEREAS, a miscarriage is the natural loss of a fetus before 20 weeks' gestation; and,
WHEREAS, per the Mayo Clinic, miscarriages occur in about 20% of all pregnancies, generally in the first 12 weeks; and,
WHEREAS, physical symptoms of a miscarriage may include severe back pain, painful contractions, and bleeding; and,
WHEREAS, after a miscarriage, medical or surgical treatment is often required to remove the tissue from the body, and necessitates at least a few days of recovery time; and
WHEREAS, a stillbirth is the loss of a fetus after 20 weeks' gestation; and
WHEREAS, per the Centers for Disease Control, one out of every 100 American pregnancies ends in stillbirth; and
WHEREAS, per the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 29% of women who experience a miscarriage or stillbirth experience post-traumatic stress disorder, 24% experience anxiety, and 11% experience moderate to severe depression, all of which can have negative long-term impacts and require time and treatment to heal from; and
WHEREAS, per the Gender Equity Commission's 2019 report "Pittsburgh's Inequality Across Gender and Race," pregnancy loss is twice as likely among Pittsburgh's Black women compared to its White women; and
WHEREAS, per the same report, the rate of pregnancy loss for both Black and White women in Pittsburgh is over 90 percent higher than the rate of pregnancy loss for Black and White women in similar American cities; and
WHEREAS, any City employee who experiences a miscarriage, stillbirth, or termination should not have to use sick days, expend pater...
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