Slate Opinion Piece Examines Prenatal Genetic Testing

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Genetics;  Abortion
Article Date: 03 Nov 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Recent newspaper articles have examined "new prenatal tests that can screen fetuses for 150 to 200 genetic abnormalities," and critics "worry that as the tests spread, they'll lead to more abortions," columnist William Saletan writes in a Slate opinion piece. Abortion opponents are concerned that information provided by prenatal genetic testing will lead to increases in the procedure, Saletan writes, adding that "you can't be for information when it discourages abortions but against information when it leads to abortions -- not if your real purpose is, as pro-lifers insist, to simply inform women." It is "pretty rich to see pro-lifers wring their hands about this information while, at the same time, they campaign for ultrasound laws," according to Saletan.

Saletan states that although he is "not for restricting these tests," proponents are "way too sanguine about information being value-neutral." Abortion opponents who are against the tests "have a legitimate worry, and the rest of us should think about it: In ways that are not entirely rational, genetic tests can shift a couple's presumption from continuing a pregnancy to aborting it," he writes, adding that prenatal genetic testing is a "world where you'll know more and more about which diseases your baby might get. Instead of thinking the baby is normal; you'll know it's abnormal."

According to Saletan, there is "evidence that prenatal testing, even with uncertainty, can dramatically increase the abortion rate," adding that the "biggest driver of these abortions" are the "cheaper, earlier tests that are now being proposed or recommended to all pregnant women." Saletan concludes, "Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand," adding that information regarding a pregnancy is "good, and the decision about what to do with it is yours. But you have to choose wisely. And to do that, you have to understand how selective, unclear information can alter your frame of mind" (Saletan, Slate, 10/29).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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