Pregnancy forms

[Stephen McGuire <SAM2@nrc.gov>]

The question was, can an x-ray training program legally terminate a student who is
pregnant?

Although I am not a lawyer, I will attempt to give an answer.  (I studied this
question as it relates to employment and compliance with the NRC's lower dose
limit for the embryo/fetus of a  declared pregnant woman.  I developed the NRC's
draft Regulatory Guide DG-8014, "Instruction Concerning Prenatal Radiation
Exposure.")

If what holds for employment also hold for training programs, then the answer is
clearly no.  The United States Supreme Court has ruled (in United Automobile
Workers International Union v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 1991) that "Decisions
about the welfare of future children must be left to the parents who conceive, bear,
support, and raise them rather than to employers, who hire those parents."  The
Supreme Court also ruled that employers have no legal right to restrict the
activities of an employee because of "concerns about the welfare of the next
generation."  Such concerns are not a legitimate business interest.  

In the employment arena, NRC regulations permit, but do not require, a pregnant
woman to declare her pregnancy.  A written declaration of pregnancy places a limit
of 0.5 rem on the dose that may be received by the embryo/fetus.  Thus, the
decision of whether to limit the dose to the embryo/fetus is left to the woman.  If a
woman declares her pregnancy, the "Americans with Disabilities Act" requires that
the employer attempt to make a reasonable accommodation to allow her to perform
her job within the dose limit.  If the job cannot be done within the dose limit for the
embryo/fetus and there is no reasonable accommodation, then it appears that the
employer could legally  terminate the employment.  The legality of this, however,
has not been tested in court, so it is not possible to be sure.

By the way, if you are looking for the final version of the Regulatory Guide, it will
be a while yet.  It is not currently being worked on due to higher priority work.

Stephen A. McGuire
SAM2@NRC.GOV