Senator Tom Cotton introduced a bill on Wednesday that would amend federal law to allow for parental leave in the case of an unborn child’s death.

The Arkansas Republican’s bill would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow for a mother and her husband to take 12 workweeks of unpaid leave over the course of a year in the event that they lose an unborn child. The bill would also create a refundable tax credit for any mother, or couple, who experiences a stillbirth. 

“This bill will make sure families receive the resources they need to help recover from the unexpected loss of a child,” Cotton told The Daily Wire. “No amount of money can replace such a loss, but the legislation will make sure parents have time to begin the recovery process.”

The legislation is called the ‘‘Helping with Equal Access to Leave and Investing in Needs for Grieving Mothers and Fathers Act.” Cotton introduced similar legislation in 2023. 

Republican Senators Kevin Cramer (ND) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) also sponsored the legislation.

“It has taken policymakers too long to recognize that parents should be allowed time to heal following a miscarriage or stillbirth,” Hyde-Smith said. “The loss of a child is devastating and heartbreaking for families, and this legislation formally acknowledges their need for time following such a loss.”

The bill would “provide leave for the spontaneous loss of an unborn child” with spontaneous loss defined as “the loss of a child in the womb that does not result from a purposeful act and is unplanned.” It would be consistent with current standards for certification, notice, flexibility and leave substitution for federal family leave law. 

Women who end the lives of their unborn children through abortion would not qualify for the benefits under the legislation.

The bill is similar to a law in Arkansas passed in 2021 that provides a tax credit for unborn children who are stillborn. Republican State Representative Les Eaves introduced the bill after his granddaughter, Paisley Havranek, was stillborn on February 6, 2019.

“One day before she died, she was a perfect, fully formed, beautiful little girl, but she’s not recognized as a dependent at that point,” he said at the time. 

In recent years, Republicans have pushed for more legislation to support family formation. Earlier this year, West Virginia Republican Rep. Riley Moore introduced a bill alongside Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) that would ensure that new moms would not be “penalized” under federal law for deciding to leave the workforce and stay home with their child.

Japan will invest over half a trillion dollars into the United States in “perhaps the largest Deal ever made,” President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.

The deal followed Japan’s chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa coming to Washington this week to meet with top administration officials. Akazawa reportedly joined Trump at the White House shortly before the president announced the agreement via a post on Truth Social.

“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made. Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits,” said Trump. “This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it.”

“Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%,” he continued. “This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Negotiators for the United States and Japan rushed to work out an agreement ahead of an August 1 deadline when Trump set punishing tariffs to take effect on Japanese imports.

The rough agreement comes at a delicate moment for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who recently suffered a severe electoral setback in which his party lost control of the Japanese parliament’s upper house. Ishiba’s party lost the parliament’s lower house in an October vote, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ishiba held out on striking a deal with Trump, betting that a tough stance on trade negotiations with the United States would earn support from Japanese voters. Polls showed that voters were more concerned with the state of inflation and immigration than on trade negotiations with the United States, however. The electoral loss could cost Ishiba his prime ministership.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled that the United States was willing to slow walk trade negotiations despite the tight deadline ahead of Tuesday’s agreement.

“Our priorities are not the internal workings of the Japanese government. Our priorities are getting the best deal for the American people,” Bessent told CNBC.

“If we somehow boomerang back to the August 1 tariffs, I would think that a higher tariff level will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements,” he said.