WOMENS RIGHTS VS FETAL RIGHTS - POLITICS, LAW AND REPRODUCTIVE HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE

Policies restricting the employment opportunities of women have a long history in the U.S. The most recent manifestation has been so-called ''fetal protection'' policies, which exclude women of childbearing age from jobs involving exposure to toxins considered dangerous to a deve loping fetus. Traditional arguments that women's biology is justificat ion to keep them from jobs have resurfaced in a new form. In the prese nt debate the issue is framed as one of competing rights, those of the fetus versus those of the woman. An analysis of public policy on this issue from a feminist legal standpoint reveals how the law's implicit male standard hinders the attainment of equal employment opportunity for women, as they must now compete with hypothetical fetuses as well as with men.