Questions raised: Why aren’t they regulated?

From the Washington Post:

A new generation of prenatal tests for Down syndrome is due to hit the market soon, promising a safer way to detect an extra fetal chromosome earlier in a woman’s pregnancy. But the tests are renewing questions. Among them: Why don’t regulators require such tests to be accurate before allowing them to be offered to the public?

At the same time, abortion foes and disability rights advocates fear that the new tests will prompt more terminations. Advocates also worry that the tests will encourage discrimination against people with Down syndrome and their families.

“We have a history in this country of a eugenics movement where people tried to eliminate certain people from the gene pool,” said Andrew J. Imparato of the American Association of People With Disabilities. “People could start wondering, ‘How did you get born?’ “

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 7:26 am and is filed under Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, abortion, discrimination, eugenics, intellectual/developmental disabilities, prenatal diagnosis, public attitudes, public health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post