D.C.Few won't let women get pregnant

[xchief]

First it was one of Chief Fews academy Instructors in the news that a recruit was told to get an abortion now they have a condition of employment letter telling the female applicants they can't get pregnant during their probationary period and that they are screened during their physical for pregnancy.How many Cival Rights can the (FEW)infringe on and when is the Mayor of D.C. going to rid the City of this Clown.

[BucksEng91]

Gee, when was it a "cival" right to become pregnant? I thought that was a "choice", according to "pro-choice" people.

You know, there are a lot of people who would like to wear their hair longer while on probation. Do you think the department should let people do that (and yes, I know about the religious beards controversy - I'm not asking about what has happened, I'm asking if it's RIGHT)? How about people who don't feel like rolling hose because it makes their back hurt?

If you want the job, you abide by the rules. One of those rules is - don't get pregnant while you're on probation. Why? Probably because YOU CAN'T BE A FIREFIGHTER IF YOU'RE PREGNANT. I can't believe I even have to point that out. The city has invested a lot of money in training, and continues to do so throughout the probie's probationary period. Do you suggest that they throw away all that taxpayer money because someone couldn't keep their legs closed for a few months?

I don't know anything about this Chief Few (I've heard some pretty bad things), but this is a completely ridiculous complaint. Pregnancy is incompatible with firefighting. It's one thing to require that someone not get pregnant, EVER. That's obviously a violation of civil rights. But that's not the case here, no matter how hysterically you titled this forum. To require that somebody act responsibly by not getting pregnant during their probation is entirely reasonable and right - that's taxpayer money going to fund training, not some magic pixie dust that appears out of thin air.

[mongofire_99]

C'mon Bucks. Just think, a female-firefighter could practically spend their whole probationary period and more off and still have a job when she chooses to return to work.

[CousinVinny354]

Gotta go with Bucks...

What is this world coming to? How can you have a pregnant chick in probie school?

Probie school is not sooo long that you never can have a baby. If you want to be a firefighter, you obide by the rules.

I still think the guy with the long hair should cut his Friggin hair. Again... we make concessions for every little biotch that screams **DISCRIMINATION** everyone loves to hide under that word.. It is all a load of crap..

Let me not get startyed on hiring quotas..

Nothing like letting the quality of your worforce slip....

Why do people still wonder why as many firemen die now as in the early 70s..

I still think they should get rid of Few.. I guess this pregnancy issue is his only good point.... Few sucks and xchief swallows..

[enginecappy]

Question...........

What happens to GI Jane if she slips a bun in the oven during boot camp in our Nations Armed Forces?

Somebody loan XChief a set of jaws to spread that narrow mind out a bit.

[Diane E]

Amazing the way people think. It's like school teachers getting pregnant in the spring so that they can be out of school on leave after October!

[xchief]

It's not that I disagree with what you are saying I agree that they shouldn't get pregnant during at least their training at the academy.What I am trying to point out is the way D.C. is going about it.Next thing they will be sending your DNA out to see if your going to be able to work for them with out sickness. its BIG BROTHER to is max. I may be narrow minded but I can see injustice.

[KyraE]

When I first read the title of this thread "DC Few won't let women get pregnant," I was a little shocked. Then I read xchief's actual explanation of this cheif's rules and it is totally reasonable. Getting pregnant during the probationary period is just ridiculous, because you CAN'T do your job. Firefighters getting pregnant EVER is a whole other issue , but can't we all agree a pregnant probie is a useless probie? Ordering her to get an abortion may go against a lot of ppl's beliefs, but making a probie choose b/w her pregnancy and her job isn't out of line. And by the way, where do "civil rights" come into this discussion? Whether people like to admit it or not, pregnancy is a choice (as opposed other things such as race and creed that are protected by civil rights laws)... you can choose not to have sex, to use birth control, to get an abortion. (Only if women were told to NEVER get pregnant could it become a sexism case.)

[hctrouble25]

I see the Chief's point here. The problem I have is that men are not able to get pregnant, so if a male fire fighter gets a woman pregnant it does not affect him (he has to quit his job) in the same way it affects the woman who got pregnant. I get that you cannot fight fire and be pregnant, but in any other job (including the police force) a woman is allowed her maternity leave to have her baby and then is allowed to return to work. Hey I hate to be the one to say it but sh*t happens. If a woman who is a probationary fire fighter takes precautions (ie. the pill, condoms, etc.) and she still gets pregnant then she has to have an abortion or leave the department? That hardly seems right. Maybe they should tell all men and women who join that they cannot have sex at all during this time frame. Men don't have to deal with the issue of pregnancy in the same way..they just continue to fight fire like nothing happened. Should we as women be punished because we can have babies and men cannot?

[SilverCity4]

Women aren't being punished because of this! They're probies. Probies have to follow rules. This is one of the rules.

And go ahead and make a rule about not allowing sex for probies. Then come back and tell us how discriminating it is when only females get in trouble for having sex. Want to know why? It's going to be real easy to prove that a pregnant female had sex; it will be very hard to prove that any male has had sex.

[BucksEng91]

hctrouble -

Typical, typical woman-bashing answer from you. The fact of life is that women are the gender that have babies. That's not my fault, that's not your fault, that's not even the President's fault. It's one of those things that just IS. Yet, you have a "problem" with this. I got some breaking news for ya, hc...it ain't gonna change. It's like the sky being blue, grass being green, fire being hot, or Democrats being socialists. It ain't gonna change.

What the chief (who, admittedly, I have not heard very good things about) is saying is that you CANNOT become pregnant while in training. Being pregnant is incompatible with firefighting and firefighter training, wouldn't you say? Any reasonable, non-hysterical parsing of the regulation would conclude this. Framing it as a male versus female issue is stupid and misleading.

If a female cannot keep her legs closed during her probation, she has no excuse for losing her job. The chief is telling her that right up front. There's no "gotcha" involved - the rule is there, the rule is clear, and its purpose is clear. The reason that I think that your position is 'woman-bashing' is that you give women little credit with your line of thinking. You presume that women are NOT going to be able to say no for the relatively short time period of their probation, that they are incapable of making the choice not to become pregnant during their probation, or worse that they are simply too stupid to realize that they have to be protected during sex if they don't want to become pregnant. I don't know, hc, I give women a little more credit as thinking, reasonable adults than that.

This is not a male vs. female issue. It's a practical issue. Keep your legs closed for a few months, act responsibly like the intelligent adult that you are, and there is NOTHING to worry about. By the way, you're wrong about the cops. They don't allow pregnant trainees, either. It's a waste of taxpayers' hard earned confiscated wages to support someone who has so little self control, and desire to be willfully disobedient to reasonable, widely published regulations.

The whole thing is being blown completely out of proportion with hysterical posts like xchief's. There are rules. The rules are not hidden. Abide by them, and enjoy a successful career with DCFD. Willfully ignore them, and lose it, MALE or FEMALE.

[xchief]

Its not Hysterical I am just pointing out facts. Go to the Home page and read the articals about this they just posted i the last few hours maybe you will understand but maybe not

[FFsSignfOthr]

Can you imagine if they banned sex for probies! How many people wouldn't even join?... How many would become professional liars (that's a great thing to teach them )... How many men would try to get out of it by saying their wife was impregnated by someone else? Are you going to test her and then fire him? This is stupid. Don't get pregnant during probation. If a probie ends up pregnant, make her start over when she comes back (if the job is still available).

There's something else to think about... More and more men are taking paternity leave. (Is that available in the FD?) If she can't take maternity leave, then he shouldn't be able to take paternity leave during probation. That should help even it out a bit.

[BucksEng91]

"D.C. Few won't let women get pregnant" - that's the name of this forum.

That's not hysterical? Read it a few times, slowly. You're saying the fire chief of DC is not letting women become pregnant. Shades of Communist China! You're not saying that he's come up with a regulation that precludes trainees becoming pregnant. You're saying that he won't let WOMEN GET PREGNANT.

How is he achieving that, xchief? Did he sterilize all the women in DC? Does he have a mobile abortion squad to make sure women don't get pregnant? Is he going around to random women and administering personal pregnancy tests?

No. Obviously not. But describing it as you did sure makes it sound that way. Sounds pretty hysterical to me.

[toneloc177]

1st off, can you say discrimination?

2nd, I wouldn't want to carry another living thing in my body, period. Besides, with my diet of burgers and beer, I don't think it would survive anyway. But, i don't think it's "**gina envy", trust me I ain't jealous of women. Sorry, trouble.

Another shocker though, is how some people will do anything to take the easy way out. They're able to get a job, find some loop hole, and go through full speed ahead. In this circumstance, I'm not saying the woman who is married or about to be married, can't make it on her mans salary alone, gets the job and then oops, slipped one by the goalie. It's not like it was planned to start a family at this particular time. And if it was, oh well, deal with it.

What about those 'Americans' abusing public assistance programs? Having six and seven kids, and not being able to support one. Why aren't those womens tubes tied when they go on P.A./Medicaid, and have an end to supporting someone elses kids with our tax dollars. Why? Because then it wouldn't be American.

America - the double edged sword

. . . but it sure beats out our competitors.