The National Secretariat of Socialist Women, Equality and Rights (MS-ID) expressed concern over the government’s intention to revoke the three days of paid leave for gestational mourning. They view this potential policy change as a clear setback in labor and social rights for families experiencing the loss of a pregnancy, highlighted by Elza Pais, the MP leading the PS body.
The MS-ID criticized the government for falsely stating that leave would be ‘extended’ from three to fifteen days, emphasizing that the fifteen-day leave referenced by the executive already exists as a medical leave for pregnancy interruption. This leave is applicable solely to pregnant individuals based on medical assessments during any stage of pregnancy.
In contrast, the leave currently under revocation is a distinct autonomous workplace entitlement, paid and without loss of rights, available to both parents in cases of gestational loss up to 24 weeks. Attempting to legally merge different schemes with unique objectives and legal foundations constitutes a distortion of truth and an unacceptable act of misinformation, according to the MS-ID.
The Socialist Women emphasized that the suggested change by the government involves removing the ability for both parents to take three days of mourning leave when medical pregnancy interruption hasn’t occurred, which is frequent in early gestational losses.
The government’s proposal fails to acknowledge that many gestational losses happen outside any medical decision or voluntary choice—many are spontaneous, traumatic, and unexpected. It’s precisely in these cases that the three-day leave was applicable, offering a minimum period for mourning and dignity. They reiterated that the government’s change doesn’t represent any ‘extension’ but rather the elimination of a measure of equity and social justice.
They stated clearly that this modification represents a subtraction of rights. The government may attempt to mask this with ‘clarification’ statements, but the reality is there are no gains, only losses.
For MS-ID, this outcome is a “loss of dignity, loss of protection, and loss of acknowledgment.” They further accused the government of yielding once again to a populist and inhumane agenda that disregards grief, omits mourning, and dehumanizes society by devaluing the emotions surrounding pregnancy loss.
The Socialist Women strongly opposed this political intention, which they believe devalues the experience of loss and ignores the emotional and psychological experiences of thousands of couples.
They pledged not to accept setbacks in the rights of those who suffer, refusing to allow mourning to be erased under false legal pretexts, especially with misleading claims that changes benefit those experiencing loss. They promised to respond consistently.
The government seeks to eliminate the gestational mourning leave, currently three days without loss of rights, while integrating the absence regulation into the leave for pregnancy interruption and family assistance.
On Friday, the Labor Minister’s office announced that the government does not intend to eliminate the gestational mourning leave, ensuring that all pregnant women “retain and even enhance their rights” under the labor law reform.
“In the case of a pregnancy interruption, the worker will always be entitled to take fourteen to thirty days of leave, instead of the current three days. Meanwhile, the other parent will also have the right to be absent from work for up to fifteen days, unlike the current three days,” the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security stated in a communiqué.
