FMLA, or the Family Medical Leave Act, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, in 1993. It guarantees you your job, in cases where you have to leave to have a baby, take care of a family member or get sick yourself. This 'safe' period can last up to 3 months once you have worked long enough at a company that is large enough (50 employees). During this time you might qualify for disability payments, depending on why you are out. This is nice, but doesn't go far enough. Canada and most European countries offer up to a year, and typically with some portion of your pay through unemployment insurance, or similar programs.
FMLA is lacking when you consider that breastfeeding a child for six months can save 1000 lives and billions of dollars every year. Unfortunately, the vast majority of women in this country do NOT do it, often because of the stress in returning to work. The study linked above says that only 14% breastfeed to 6 months and the drop off at 3 months - the point FMLA expires - is precipitous.
It's really a disturbing that our society values children so little. The same people making a markedly futile attempt to protect every unborn child could care less about the born. The people who claimed 'family values' don't value the family as anything more than commodities for labor and profit.
This is why I'm a Democrat. Republicans uniformly voted against the meager FMLA, and would do that again if they could. They would have taken this precious time away from everyone, and for what - to 'protect' businesses? The year this law was signed marked the beginning of this longest economic expansion in US History, under the Clinton Administration.
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