Foetal Screening
Categories : Ethics, General Practice, News, Obstetrics |
This test has the potential to revolutionise screening in pregnancy : The Age | Safer screening soon for pregnant women. It’s being developed by an Australian company and will take the form of a pap smear type test where foetal DNA is obtained and amplified from cervical mucus at around 6 weeks. This will certainly be a lot more clear cut than the current screening procedures, and without the risk of amniocentesis. But I don’t think they can seriously claim that the result will not be a higher rate of terminations - firstly this test will be more universally applied than the current screening ultrasounds and blood tests. Secondly it will be able to screen not only for Down Syndrome, but for other genetic disorders like Cystic Fibrosis also and I’m sure many others. Logically this will result in a huge leap in the number of terminations performed, since many of these conditions could not be diagnosed until after birth (or on invasive amniocentesis) up to now. A relatively simple method of obtaining foetal DNA, such as this test promises to be, has the potential to be abused - not only could diseases be tested for, but also the sex of the baby determined at an early age, and other genetic characteristics.
So while I appreciate the technology and science and innovation behind this new test, it really opens up an ethical can of worms that the media reports I have seen haven’t really appreciated yet. Forget all the controversy about research on embryos, and cloning etc from recent years - this could be much much bigger issue - and at this stage it’s slipping under the radar…
