BYU students find humanity in the midst of the refugee crisis

BYU student Melena Warden moves down the line at a refugee camp in Moria, Greece. She can’t provide the refugees with assurances of asylum, but she can provide them with a sense of humanity.

“They’re treated like less than human,” Warden said. “I think they crave this human connection that makes them feel like they’re normal. They’re just like us. They’re here because they have to be, because war pushed them out; not because they want to be.”

Warden used bits of Farsi and Arabic she had learned while waiting in line with refugees from Afghanistan and Syria in order to learn their stories.

“When they saw I was trying to get to their level and speak to them in their language, they’d light up and respect me,” she said.

Warden spent Christmas break volunteering at the refugee camp. She returned to Provo, only to turn around and get back on a plane.

She bought a one-way ticket, and her mother dropped Warden and her backpack off at the airport.

Rachael Bundy, Warden’s old roommate, was not very surprised by her decision to go back to Greece. According to Bundy, Warden is an energetic and charismatic person who is truly concerned with how the world works.

“She came back and she was signing up for classes,” Bundy said. “Then she was like, ‘You know, I just don’t think I can make a big enough difference here. I feel like I need to go and make a difference.'”

Warden explained when she returned to Provo, she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. The day before winter semester’s Add/Drop Deadline, Warden decided to take a semester off and return to Europe, where she hopes to find her purpose and develop the skills to help others the way she wants to.

“I was at school and realized this is not real, this has no importance — there are people dying,” Warden said. “I know them, and I just couldn’t handle it.”

Back in Greece, she feels like she is making a difference, but the work she does and the heartache she sees is still emotionally and psychologically taxing. Warden notes, however, this is not necessarily bad.

“I spend time crying, and I feel like that helps me grow the capacity I have to love,” Warden said. “I’m not sure if there’s a way you cope with it, because it’s horrible and not something that anyone wants to see other humans going through. The way I keep going is connecting with people.”

Other BYU students, such as Amanda Buessecker, are also feeling the impact of the refugee crisis. Buessecker, an art history major from Calgary, recently met her new neighbors — a Syrian refugee family.

In a Facebook post titled “Why It’s Not ‘Cool’ That My Next-Door Neighbors Are Syrian Refugees” that has been shared almost 10,000 times, Buessecker expressed her frustration with readers’ reactions when she told them of her new neighbors, a family of nine that fled Damascus.

She believes many of these comments seemed to dehumanize refugees and wrote that it is unfair how the public does not take the effort to think about the suffering current refugees are experiencing.

“Frankly it sucks that my new neighbors are Syrian refugees,” Buessecker wrote. “It means I CAN NO LONGER escape the reality of the horrors of the world, because members of my community have experienced it … It means tears roll down my cheeks as I plead with God to bless them in their new land.”

She explained she deeply cares for these new neighbors who have had terrible experiences.

Buessecker’s neighbors left their home, saw people die and fled for their lives as a “last resort.” Now they are safe in Canada, where the mother watches her children play in the park, and the children are quickly learning English.

Buessecker, an international student, has experienced some differences between American and Canadian culture herself. She said moving to Canada must be hard for the family.

Despite these hardships, the family still has a great deal of hope for their future, and Buessecker is hopeful they will find happiness in their new home.

“If these people feel welcomed into our countries, they’re just as valid citizens as me who was born in a country or a French-Canadian who doesn’t speak English. We’re all Canadians, right?” said Buessecker.

The LDS church has also taken a stand to help refugees. In April’s General Conference, Relief Society General President Linda K. Burton introduced an initiative called “I Was a Stranger.” Church leaders urged members to help the refugees and to become informed about world events.

“Being a refugee may be a defining moment in the lives of those who are refugees, but being a refugee does not define them,” said Patrick Kearon, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy and president of the Europe area, in a conference talk. “This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us.”

In November 2015, the LDS Church committed to donate $5 million to help displaced families after M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, visited refugee sites in Germany and Greece.

According to Eurostat, 426,000 individuals applied as first-time applicants for asylum in the European Union from October to December 2015. Of these applicants, 145,000 are from Syria, 79,300 are from Afghanistan and 53,600 are from Iraq.

Applicants are applying for asylum in EU-member nations, including Germany (38 percent of applicants applied for asylum here), Sweden (21 percent), Austria (7 percent), Italy (6 percent) and France (6 percent).

Before they officially apply for asylum, many refugees flee to Greece, often using illegal methods, and are then stranded in border camps, such as the police camp at Idomeni where Warden volunteered, with little more than the wet clothes they are wearing.

Aid organizations strive to provide refugees with food and clothes, but refugees can still wait in uncomfortable conditions for weeks before they are given papers that allow them to apply for asylum elsewhere.

Now Warden is living in Athens with a Syrian family she met at Idomeni. She and a few other volunteers were cleaning up the camp when a mother and her three daughters asked if they could help, saying they would rather pick up trash than sit around.

Warden was amazed that these women would help in the midst of this human conflict. She began to talk to the family and found they “have such peace inside and such light in their eyes.”

Warden explained that even though they are refugees, this family helps others constantly. Furthermore, they maintain a sense of gratitude and a strong faith in God. The mother told Warden a story of life back in Syria: a bomb went off outside their house. Her daughters had been outside in the car, and she thought they had surely died. Once she went outside, she saw they were alive and thanked God for protecting them.

When the family was set to leave the camp, Warden felt like she needed to go with them. She followed the family to Skotina where she and the Syrian mother started a school for the children, who had not been taught in over a year. Warden taught the children English and also started an English program for the adults.

Warden said she feels like she has began to find that purpose she has been searching for.

“I’m learning that instead of thinking I need to help everyone, I need to look at those around me and know that’s enough,” Warden said.

This summer, Warden will return to her family. Her mother, Deanna Warden, joked that it was her fault that Melena went to Greece because she raised Melena to try to relieve the suffering of others and to realize that she is a citizen of the world.

Warden plans to continue to work as an advocate for refugees once she is back home by teaming up with organizations such as Lifting Hands International, which her friend, BYU-graduate Hayley Smith, started.

“Everybody’s human,” Warden said. “Everybody’s the same. We should always cherish humanity, and we should never let ourselves dehumanize other people in any way.”

The girls who live, breathe and sit in boxes for art

A reflective box, two students and 24 hours were all ingredients used in the name of art.

Camilla Stark, an industrial design student, took part in an art project designed by Hannah Cardell, another industrial design student.

The project, entitled “Portrait of a Millennial in Her Natural Habitat,” required Stark to sit in a box made of reflective material for 24 hours.

This piece was created for one of Cardall’s art classes as part of a four-piece study using mirrors.

“Students tend to be quite ingenious in this course,” visual arts professor Jean Richardson said. “Hannah puts a lot of thought and work into her assignments. She is exploring interesting themes of identity and perception in her work.”

The box quickly became more than a class project, according to Cardall and Stark.

Cardall had already conceptualized the project when she began looking for someone to participate in the project. Cardall asked Stark to participate through Twitter after looking through a list of people she thought she could convince to sit in the box.

“So she asked me this and I’m like, ‘Of course I’ll sell my soul for art. Wait, what am I agreeing to?'” Stark said. “Then when she told me about it, I was turning it over in my mind all day, and I realized I already live in a mirrored box, right?”

Stark said she quickly related the project to real life.

“I always am on campus looking at people who are looking at me (and) who are looking at themselves,” Stark said. “We’re all in our boxes.”

Cardall agreed and explained this is why she chose to create the box with reflective materials.

“We all reflect ourselves onto each other, you know? Everything we do constantly comes back to ourselves,” Cardall said.

Stark turned out to be an interesting reflection of millennial culture during her time in the box, according to Cardall. Wearing a hoodie and jeans with her hair undone, notifications constantly dinging and blankets surrounding her, Stark became what she and Cardall call “the androgynous everyday man of the millennial generation.”

Stark was allowed to bring whatever she wanted into the box – most notably her technology. The “dings” of her notifications created a soundtrack in the design lab as she live-tweeted, posted to Facebook and Snapchatted during the 24-hour experiment.

The pair received a significant reaction on social media, especially on Stark’s “Facebook empire.” Internet onlookers became so involved that they started answering each other’s questions, letting everyone know that Stark was in a box for “Art.”

Cardall also set up a camera in the corner of the box to record the entire thing. Stark had a hard time adjusting to the camera in the beginning, but by the end of the experiment, it almost acted as a companion.

“I like that it had this other element because I had the video,” Cardall said. “I like that there was this sort of companion piece in her explosion on the internet.”

Stark noted that other than being recorded, being in the box was not much different than her normal life. Cardall, however, noticed that Stark acted interestingly in light of the box.

Stark had no human interaction during her stint in the box (although she was allowed to leave to go to the bathroom and Cardall brought her food), but Cardall was present for most of the experiment. Stark would speak to Cardall, but Cardall never responded for the sake of the project.

Stark asked permission to break out, but Cardall still did not respond when the 24 hours were up. After about a minute without a response, Stark made up her own mind.

“When I came out of the box, it was triumphant,” Stark said. “I counted down out loud and then kicked my way out and burst out of the box.”

Both Stark and Cardall said they learned a great deal from the box experience.

Stark said she was especially grateful and aware of the outside world and other people after she broke out of the box. She explained that she also became more aware of her social needs.

Stark is preparing for an internship in Munich this summer, and she is nervous about it because of her experiences in Paris last summer where she felt “vaguely unsafe.” When she was alone at night, the box reminded her of that time. In Germany, she will be alone without knowing the language or culture; she will be in a box. After this experience, however, she made the decision to let her metaphorical box be a place of meditation, and she has decided that she is going to be a great success this summer.

Cardall said she learned to be a fearless creator. The box pushed Cardall to go bigger with a higher concept and to explore. It proved that these things are worth trying.

“I feel like post-box, I should make the big things happen because that’s how I’m going to accomplish something,” Cardall said. “That’s what’s exciting, that’s what’s worth doing.”

Franklin Graham advocates political participation, group prayers

Evangelist Franklin Graham spoke about the state of the 2016 presidential race and putting God first during a prayer rally Tuesday on the steps of the Utah State Capitol.

The rally, part of his 50-state “Decision America Tour,”  was held in Salt Lake City. Graham encouraged Christians to become political activists and to pray for the welfare of the nation.

“All of us are here today because we know that our country is in trouble,” said Graham, citing abortion, pride, materialism, and racism as some of these troubles. “I want to put God back in the discussion, God back into politics.”

Graham told the crowd that the moral and political walls of America are falling and that many people seem to be more concerned with political correctness than with “God’s truth.” He also said that the nation needs to regain God’s favor by confessing their individual sins, as well as “the sins of our nation,” which would allow everyone’s hearts to be healed in Jesus.

“The most important thing we can do here today is to pray,” Graham said.

He then shared a message of forgiveness, saying that if audience members were willing to confess their sins and to take Christ into their hearts, they would be find hope and be able to help the political situation.

“You may be wondering, ‘What can I do?'” he said. “Be willing this next election to vote. Vote for candidates that stand for Biblical truths and Biblical principles and that are willing to live them.”

However, he reiterated the need to actually participate. “This is the key: you got to vote.”

Graham noted that in 1952, his father, well-known Evangelist Billy Graham, said that Christians have a duty to study the candidates and to vote. If Christians do this, Graham explained, they can elect a candidate who will lead with God in mind.

According to Graham, America is currently a secular society, which he said is the same as a Godless society. To counteract this, he encouraged audience members to take action and to run for public office, regardless of their political affiliation.

“There are many places in which Christian men and women could get the vote if they only offered themselves,” Graham said.

Graham shared the Biblical stories of Nehemiah and Daniel, who both served as political leaders. “We need Daniels today,” he said.

He urged attendees to start to form prayer groups within their communities without thought to race or political affiliations, and he urged these prayer groups to start supporting members of their communities to run for local office.”We’ve got to get involved because if we don’t, we will lose this election,” Graham said.

Graham believes that the 2016 presidential race will be the most important in America’s history to date. “You don’t know what God will do. You don’t know when you get people behind you, praying for you, what God might do.”

Sanders calls for ‘radical’ reform at Salt Lake City rally

“Power to the People,” blared overhead as 14,000 people with “Feel the Bern” emblazoned on their chests packed Salt Lake City’s This is the Place Heritage Park Friday afternoon.

Presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders used the rally as an opportunity to emphasize the focus of his unique, people-centered campaign.

“What this campaign is about, and what I am urging the American people to do, is to think outside of the box, outside of the status quo, outside of the options that the media thinks you have,” Sanders said.

Sanders noted that his campaign had little recognition 10 months ago. Now, he is one of the frontrunners in national polls. He said this is because his campaign is focused on listening to the entire country and its problems instead of focusing on wealthy donors.

He said his campaign is listening to the youth, African American, Latino, Native American, senior and disabled veteran communities in order to pinpoint the real changes that need to be made in the country.

The crowd cheered as he called for reforms in campaign financing, education, criminal justice, health care, the environment and wealth distribution.

Sanders said many people find his ideas radical; he believes they are very sensible. He justified his reform plans by explaining they would be economically supported by imposing taxes on Wall Street and multinational corporations.

His desire to address these real problems, however, has led to something profound. “We’re doing something very radical in American politics,” Sanders said. “We’re telling the truth.”

This “radicalism” is the reason many supporters went to the rally.

Salt Lake City residents Alex Anderson, 26, and Piper Shipman, 23, are roommates both working and trying to finish their university education. They said that even though they have good jobs, paying for school is still difficult. Sanders’ call for free public universities could help them finish school, they said, and his health care reforms could be beneficial as they pursue careers in the medical field.

Neither Anderson nor Shipman have voted before, but they decided to register in support of Sanders’ cause. “He’s a genuine person. He’s working for the good of the people instead of himself,” Anderson said.

Natalia Abril, a 20-year-old student at the University of Utah, supports Sanders for similar reasons.

“He (strives for) a sense of equality,” Abril said. “He’s speaking for people who don’t normally speak for themselves.”

Utah residents were also impressed with the symbolism of the rally’s location. This is the Place Heritage Park is where Brigham Young first saw the Salt Lake Valley, and supporters explained that Sanders is also a sort of visionary.

Warner Woodworth, emeritus professor at the BYU Marriott School of Business, went further to compare Sanders to Young, saying both are anti-establishment and for the people.

Sanders took the time to say that while he is for the people, Donald Trump is definitely not. He said that the American people will not elect Trump because he “lies all the time” and divides the nation.

“Perhaps most importantly what the American people know is what every major religion has taught us: love trumps hatred,” Sanders said.

Sanders and his campaign team urged Utahns to participate in Utah’s upcoming caucuses to help bring about the change they believe is necessary for the country – a change Sanders said only he can bring.

“Everybody here knows real change never comes about from the top on down,” Sanders said. “It comes about from the bottom on up.”

HB221: Immunization bill held in House

A controversial bill that would amend children’s immunization requirements failed to pass through the Legislature after 10 substitutions.

Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D–Salt Lake City, sponsored the bill that would have created new regulations for students seeking immunization exemption. HB221 would require families to work with the local health departments for exemption and would also implement an online education module.

Moss explained that this bill is needed because the number of vaccinated students is decreasing, which has changed the dynamics of the public health situation. 87,000 children in Utah are not vaccinated. 181 are unvaccinated for religious reasons; 1,450 are unvaccinated for medical reasons; and 34,610 are unvaccinated for personal reasons. As a result, Moss said, Utah is losing its “herd immunity.”

“The state, medical community and health departments [have a] responsibility to protect all people, particularly children who can’t protect themselves,” Moss said.

As a former high school English teacher, Moss has seen her fair share of illness in the classroom. In 2011, for example, there was a measles outbreak in Utah. The health department spent $250,000 trying to fight the outbreak, and many students and teachers were put at risk, Moss says. One student in her daughter’s class, for example, had leukemia when exposed to the measles. The student then missed two weeks of school right before taking the A.P. test.

Moss noted that the purpose of this bill, however, is not to convince parents to immunize their children. “I want to respect parents’ rights, but they must understand the risks to their child and to others,” she said.

Understanding is why Moss intended to implement the online module. In line with her vision, parents would complete the 20-minute module at home three times, starting when their children enter kindergarten and finishing when their children graduate from high school.

Currently health departments across the state teach different things about immunizations. This online module would have helped standardize learning by giving everyone the same information. This education would also have helped the community form a plan in the case of an outbreak, which would include excluding unvaccinated children from classes for 21 days.

Had the bill passed, upon completing the module, parents would print the certificate and bring it into the local health department. After being approved by the health department, parents would bring the exemption form into their child’s school. This exemption would need to be renewed every five years.

Kim Lowe, a school nurse in Alpine School District, testified on behalf of Utah school nurses in front of the House Health and Human Services Committee. She said that school nurses support HB221 because it would standardize vaccination training and would prepare parents for a call from the school nurse in the event of an outbreak. Lowe emphasized that school nurses respect parents’ right to exempt their child from immunizations, and HB221 would not take away this right.

Lacey Eden, a pediatric nurse practitioner who teaches immunizations therapy at BYU, also expressed her support of the bill. “Right now what is being done at local health departments is not working. The standardized education will make it the same whether you live in Logan or whether you live in St. George. All parents who are exempting their children will get the exact same education on how to protect their child and to decrease the spread of infection in their community,” Eden said.

Some representatives and community members, however, were hesitant to support Moss’s bill.

Community member Kristen Chevrier worked with Moss on the bill but did not support the amended version. She gave two reasons for opposing the bill. First, the bill neglects the fact that blood titers can be tested to determine immunity and additional need for vaccines. Secondly, vaccines are not necessarily safe or effective. According to Chevrier, the FDA estimates that only 1% of vaccine injuries are reported. She then presented 50 letters that she received from pro-vaccine parents whose children were injured by vaccines and then qualified for a medical exemption.

Gayle Ruzicka of Utah Eagle Forum explained that her opposition was based on the bill’s reliance on the health department. The requirement to go to the local health department to get the exemption form puts an undue burden on parents, especially those in rural counties, said Ruzicka.

Rep. Michael Kennedy, R—Alpine, stated that the language of the bill was too general when parents need specific guidelines. He noted that the bill is “a great step in the right direction” but suggested it be sent back to rules for interim study. Several other representatives, including Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, and Rep. Norman Thurston, R-Provo, had similar feelings.

“I think we’re really close,” Ray said. “Immunization is important, but I want to make sure the parent has the choice.”

HB221 made it through the House, and the Senate amended the bill. The House then struck the enacted clause in the final hours of the Legislature.

Nonprofits take their message to Utah’s Capitol Hill

Nonprofit organizations met at the Capitol Feb. 11 as part of the eighth Annual Nonprofit Day on the Hill.

Forty nonprofit organizations from across Utah participated in the event sponsored by Utah Nonprofits Association.

The event allows nonprofits to become more known and to connect with legislators according to Brooke Dimond, professional development coordinator of the association. Likewise, it is a good way for legislators to get to know the nonprofits they represent.

Representatives of the organizations started out their day at an orientation. They were then recognized in the Senate and House. Each organization then submitted their papers and spoke to their legislators. Nonprofits stayed in the rotunda to talk to any legislators they missed earlier, as well as to increase their visibility at the Capitol.

The Utah Infertility Resource Center, an organization that seeks to provide support, education, and awareness for those struggling with infertility in Utah, attended Nonprofit Day on the Hill.

The Utah Infertility Resource Center officially started in September 2015, so the center used this day to introduce itself, to explain its relevance to legislators, and to demonstrate how it can help constituents.

“Infertility in Utah is a very big topic because of our family-focused culture, so when people struggle with infertility here, it’s a big deal,” said Camille Hawkins, executive director of Utah Infertility Resource Center.

Representatives from the organization spoke to five legislators throughout the day and considered their conversations a success.

“As we’re introducing our organization, most people go, ‘Oh, of course. This fits into this gap.’ You don’t really notice it’s there until somebody points it out,” said Brooke Walrath, the center’s director of education.

Hawkins and Walrath said the Utah Infertility Resource Center offers counseling, educational consultations, community events, and support groups to help those living in this gap deal with the social, mental, and emotional difficulties of infertility. They hope for large community involvement in their upcoming events, including their opening ceremony on March 5.

When Walrath started expressing her struggle on Facebook, she was surprised at the massive response from friends and family who were struggling with the same thing. Because it is a taboo topic in our society, people do not realize that many people they know have struggled or are struggling with infertility and have never mentioned it.

“A lot of people feel like they don’t have the space to talk about it, and we’re hoping to create that space,” said Walrath.

Utah State Fair Park was also in attendance. This organization’s goal is to give community service through educational opportunity and events – the main event being the State Fair.

Jeff Kooring, the Fair Park’s director of sales and marketing, explained that the organization attended the event to gain exposure to “as many legislators as possible.”

The Fair Park is experiencing economic hardships. The organization is a quasi-state agency that manages the fair park, and, because of its status as a technical private agency, it is having difficulties securing funds. The organization now has to ask for a “one-time” appropriation of $675,000 each year to maintain the state’s facilities.

Utah State Fair Park managers also spent the day lobbying for a lease extension. For the last three years, Kooring said, the organization has not had a lease, and no one has been able to vote on a bill to change that. When the lease ends this year, it will turn to a year-by-year lease, so there is an “unrealistic” but possible threat of canceling the fair at the end of this year.

There is a bill being presented to restructure the board this session, which is being sponsored by Sen. Kevin Van Tassle, R–Vernal. Sen. Luz Escamilla, D–Salt Lake City, also has a bill, which she may bring forward if she needs to back up the first bill.

“There’s a lot of hope,” Kooring said. “Last year, we didn’t think we had much hope, but this year I think there’s enough support that we can get things done.”

HB165: Representative seeks restitution for child sexual abuse victims

SALT LAKE CITY—A lawmaker wants to make perpetrators pay restitution to the child victims of sexual abuse.

The Utah House is set to vote on HB165, sponsored by Rep. Brad Dee, R–Ogden. The bill passed the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee earlier. This bill would exclude disability and veteran benefits from property exemption if the recipient has been convicted of a felony and ordered to pay reparations to a victim.

At the committee meeting, Dee explained the motivation for this bill came from a family in his district. A man was convicted of sexually abusing his daughter and was ordered to pay restitution by the court. Because the man was in prison, he did not have a job and could not pay the restitution; however, he did receive veteran benefits. Dee contacted the Veterans Administration to see if these benefits could be garnished to pay for the daughter’s therapy. Current legislation does not allow this, so Dee is seeking to change the law.

“I don’t want to forever garnish someone’s retirement, but at least for the years of counseling for this young woman – I think the perpetrator should be paying for that,” Dee said.

He emotionally continued, “I think the perpetrator at least ought to be held accountable for the counseling of a young girl that went through this terror in her family for over a year. I think that’s the person that ought to be held responsible for paying for the counsel to bring this girl back into a normal life.”

Several committee members expressed their concern over the narrowness of this bill.

Rep. Edward Redd, R–Logan, was vocal about his hesitations with the bill and asked why the bill is not seeking to change the code for everything that is currently exempted from victim restitution. The bill, he said, seeks to solve one individual case, but policy should seek to solve many larger cases. He would prefer a more general bill that would make changes in a broad sense, so the problem does not have to be revisited in the future. Despite his hesitations, however, Redd voted in favor of the bill.

“The concept is don’t let perfection be the enemy of good,” Redd said. “I voted for it not because I’m totally enthralled with the idea – I’m enthralled with the concept, but I’m not enthralled with the microsurgical approach to the problem. I think he should make it more general. It’s a piecemeal, but a piecemeal is better than nothing.”

The bill passed in the committee in a eight to one vote with only Rep. Earl Tanner, R–West Jordan, voting against it.

Several other states have passed bills similar to HB165. Dee also stressed that judges would still be determining the weight of liabilities in criminal cases. This bill would only serve as a way to ensure restitution is paid to the victim.

SB59: Senate bill seeks to protect breastfeeding and pregnant women

SALT LAKE CITY – A Woods Cross Republican wants to protect the nursing mothers to breast feed in public and pregnant women who may be discriminated against.

Sen. Todd Weiler is sponsoring a bill that would give reasonable accommodations to women who experience limitations in the work place as a result of breastfeeding, pregnancy or related matters. SB59 would revise Utah’s Antidiscrimination Act.

Weiler explained that Utah is a family friendly state, yet some women have approached him who feel that they have been harassed or discriminated against in the workplace because they need a break to pump milk for breastfeeding or to go to the restroom.

According to Weiler, the biggest issue is that some people do not think that this bill is necessary. Many assume that these protections already exist; however, there are currently no federal or state protections for the reasonable accommodation of pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Reasonable accommodation is an adjustment to the work environment that enables an employee to continue to perform their essential job functions. It would provide women with the resources and opportunities to care for themselves in the work place – as long as  it is not an unnecessary burden on the employer. Reasonable accommodation could include providing a private room for women to pump or breastfeed and allowing pregnant women to take an extra break.

“The idea is that we don’t want to burden employers, but if there is something employers can do, we are going to require them to do that,” Weiler said.

Stephanie Pitcher, coordinator of the Utah Women’s Coalition, has personally experienced this type of discrimination and said that it really is an issue in Utah. The message is, she said, that women need these kinds of protection and are not getting them.

To try to counteract this, the Women’s Coalition has been heavily involved in SB59. The coalition prepared and did a lot of research for the bill before bringing it to Weiler, who then agreed to sponsor the bill. Now the coalition is working to prepare talking points.

“Our main hope is that we can pass this legislation, so women can ask for these accommodations,” Pitcher said. “Generally they’re very simple – things that most of us agree are reasonable.”

This bill comes after the legislature passed HB105 in 2015, which amended Utah’s anti-discrimination law to include breastfeeding or medical conditions relating to breastfeeding as a result of pregnancy, childbirth, or “pregnancy-related conditions.”

Sen. Jim Debakis, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Angela Romero, R-Salt Lake City, are pushing Women’s Coalition-backed bills through the legislature this session. Debakis’ bill seeks to add breastfeeding mothers to the public accommodation act. Romero’s bill would provide state employees with parental leave.