Absolutely not taking a side here—though I was disappointed by the article's lack of hard-data support—but I want to point out that many companies will not hire smokers for the reasons you cited. Insurance questionnaires often begin by asking does the potential client use tobacco/nicotine in any form.

So, it is considered fair & it does happen.

Of course it's a bad comparison to start with because I'm not certain men are still more likely to smoke than women, & regardless there is substantial social benefit to reproduction while virtually none to smoking.