Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace: Bearing the Burden of Fetal Risk

Corporate policies to exclude fertile women from certain jobs have been justified as a means to reduce toxic exposure of the developing fetus. To others, such policies aim, rather, to reverse the economic-employment gains made through enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Beyond the legal and scientific issues remains the political question: who should bear the burden of protecting potential children of workers from the risks associated with workplace exposure?

Author(s): Ronald Bayer

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Volume 60, Issue 4 (pages 633–656)
Published in 1982