Bill > AB1784

This bill expands protections against discrimination in postsecondary education to include pregnancy and pregnancy-related issues for all students, not just graduate students, by amending the Equity in Higher Education Act. It explicitly adds ancestry, national origin, medical condition, marital status, familial status, citizenship, and primary language to the list of characteristics protected under the act, and broadens the definition of "gender" to encompass pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The bill prohibits postsecondary institutions from discriminating against students or applicants based on their current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions, including preventing institutions from requiring students to take leaves of absence or withdraw from programs or activities. It mandates that institutions provide reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to educational programs for students experiencing pregnancy or related conditions, which can include excused leaves, schedule changes, time extensions for coursework, and other health and safety accommodations, while also requiring institutions to designate an employee to coordinate compliance efforts and inform students of their rights and available accommodations. Furthermore, the bill extends leave of absence and time-to-degree extensions previously only available to graduate students to all undergraduate students who are pregnant, have recently given birth, or are non-birth parents, and requires institutions to update their policies on pregnancy discrimination to include undergraduate students and make them accessible to all students, as well as to post notices of these protections on their websites and provide them through on-campus medical centers.

Education

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1784