Markets in women's reproductive labor.

Area of Science:

• Social Policy
• Ethics
• Economics

Background:

• Social policy evolution often centers on market scope limitations.
• Recent experiments with markets in women's reproductive labor, such as contract pregnancy, raise ethical questions.
• The asymmetry thesis posits that reproductive labor markets are uniquely problematic compared to other labor markets.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate popular arguments defending the asymmetry thesis regarding reproductive labor.
• To propose an alternative defense of the asymmetry thesis.
• To analyze arguments against contract pregnancy that rely on the asymmetry thesis.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of ethical and economic arguments.
• Critique of existing justifications for the asymmetry thesis.
• Development of a novel defense for the asymmetry thesis.

Main Results:

• Popular defenses of the asymmetry thesis are found to be wanting.
• The asymmetry thesis captures significant societal intuitions.
• A plausible argument against contract pregnancy, grounded in the asymmetry thesis, is presented.

Conclusions:

• The asymmetry thesis offers a compelling framework for understanding concerns about markets in reproductive labor.
• Further philosophical and ethical inquiry is needed to fully address the implications of the asymmetry thesis.
• The study provides a foundation for a more nuanced ethical debate on reproductive labor markets.