Modeling an employment policy to unify workers' rights with fetal protection

Abstract

Women's rights to work should not be viewed as in conflict with the welfare of future generations. This is particularly true with respect to traditional fetal protection policies (FPPs), which, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Johnson Controls are, for the most part, legally discredited. Just as the women's movement may be recast as a human movement in this decade, sex-specific FPPs will be discarded in favor of broader reproductive and health programs (RHPs) that shelter all workers and potential offspring from reproductive and other hazards in the workplace. Gender-balanced research analyzing mediation of harm to both workers and fetuses is a vital priority at this time because many dormant questions regarding the impact of various toxins remain. The primary stakeholders in this controversy must cooperate in a proactive effort to improve technology, clean up toxic work environments, and set standards and goals that will permit the maintenance of a genderintegrated workforce without sacrificing the health and well-being of either workers or fetuses.