section_path: Legal and social aspects/Legal protection
section_name: Legal protection
paragraph_text: Legal protection
  
  Many countries have various legal regulations in place to protect pregnant women and their children. Many countries have laws against pregnancy discrimination.
  
  Maternity Protection Convention ensures that pregnant women are exempt from activities such as night shifts or carrying heavy stocks. Maternity leave typically provides paid leave from work during roughly the last trimester of pregnancy and for some time after birth. Notable extreme cases include Norway (8 months with full pay) and the United States (no paid leave at all except in some states).
  
  In the United States, some actions that result in miscarriage or stillbirth, such as beating a pregnant woman, are considered crimes. One law that does so is the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act. In 2014, the American state of Tennessee passed a law which allows prosecutors to charge a woman with criminal assault if she uses illegal drugs during her pregnancy and her fetus or newborn is harmed as a result.
  
  However, protections are not universal. In Singapore, the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act forbids current and former work permit holders from becoming pregnant or giving birth in Singapore without prior permission. Violation of the Act is punishable by a fine of up to S$ 10,000 (US$ 7300) and deportation, and until 2010, their employers would lose their $5,000 security bond.