IT WASN'T so long ago that a trip to the hospital could get you fired.

That's what Virginia Beyer learned when a hernia sent her to the emergency room on a Thursday night. A call from her hospital bed and a faxed doctor's note the next morning couldn't save her job; when she returned to work the next week, Virginia found she'd been fired -- or, as her employer put it, "self-terminated."

Before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), stories like Virginia Beyer's were a fact of American working life. New mothers would return to work after the birth of their child to find that they had been replaced; a husband could face demotion if he stayed home to care for his ailing wife.

But soon after I was elected to the Senate in the early 1980s, I decided to take action against a system that forced Americans to choose between caring for their families and providing for them. If workers needed time off to be there for loved ones, then employers needed to give it. That's why I authored the FMLA in 1985, and that's why I fought for its passage through eight years of obstruction and two Presidential vetoes.

It never ceases to amaze me that such a common-sense notion sparked such fierce criticism.

Through four Congresses and two Presidents, I rebutted the criticism as best I could. I pointed out that in the new economy, more and more families needed two incomes to pay the bills. I cited studies showing that guaranteed leave would cost employers just pennies per worker per day. And I showed that, in denying such a basic protection, America was virtually alone among nations, industrialized or otherwise.

Finally, on Feb. 5, 1993 -- 14 years ago tomorrow -- the Family and Medical Leave Act was signed into law. Under its protection, eligible workers receive 12 weeks of leave every year, so that they can watch over a newborn or adopted baby, or help a parent through an illness, or get better themselves, knowing that their job will be there when they return. To date, an estimated 50 million Americans have taken that opportunity.

The predictions of economic disaster turned out to be totally unfounded: With lower turnover and a boost to morale, 90 percent of employers told the Department of Labor that the FMLA had a neutral or positive effect on profits.

Today, the idea of guaranteed leave seems obvious, but now, we face a new and equal challenge: making that hard-won leave a possibility for all Americans. In the 21st century, working families should not have to give up the leave they earned because they cannot afford it -- they deserve paid leave.

Why do we offer nothing, when the European standard is 10 paid months? Why are we one of only five countries to deny paid maternity leave, leaving us in the august company of Swaziland, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Liberia?

I believe it's a choice that no American should ever again be forced to make. When Congress passed and President Clinton signed the FMLA, we affirmed that health and family should never have to suffer because of the demands of work. I fail to see why that right should stop at a certain income bracket.

Since the law was enacted, I've introduced numerous bills to expand its scope and move us toward paid leave.

In the coming weeks, I will be introducing a bill to secure at least six weeks of paid leave and expand coverage to more families. There's nothing harder than balancing a family's needs and work.

As you can imagine, we'll likely have another long fight on our hands. We can remember, though, what history has shown us: A good idea is worth it.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is running for the Democratic nomination for President.