AB 970

This bill prohibits employment discrimination based on personal health care

choices. Current law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age,

race, creed, color, disability, marital status, sex, national origin, ancestry, sexual

orientation, arrest record, conviction record, military service, use or nonuse of a

lawful product off the employer's premises during nonworking hours, or declining to

attend a meeting or to participate in any communication about religious or political

matters. The bill adds personal health care choices to that list.

The bill specifies that employment discrimination because of personal health

care choices includes an employer, labor organization, employment agency, licensing

agency, or other person refusing to hire, employ, admit, or license an individual,

barring or terminating an individual from employment, membership, or licensure,

or discriminating against an individual in promotion, in compensation, or in the

terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of any personal health care

choices made or contemplated by or on behalf of the individual or a family member

of the individual.

Under the bill, "personal health care choices" includes decisions made by or on

behalf of an individual or a family member of an individual related to pregnancy,

contraception, and reproductive health, including a decision to use or access, or to

refrain from the use or access of, a particular drug, device, or medical service.