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Prenatal testing
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=== Concerns from disability rights activists and scholars === Since its introduction in 2011 to 2025, there has been a global expansion of [[Noninvasive prenatal testing|non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ravitsky |first1=Vardit |last2=Roy |first2=Marie-Christine |last3=Haidar |first3=Hazar |last4=Henneman |first4=Lidewij |last5=Marshall |first5=John |last6=Newson |first6=Ainsley J. |last7=Ngan |first7=Olivia M.Y. |last8=Nov-Klaiman |first8=Tamar |date=2021-08-31 |title=The Emergence and Global Spread of Noninvasive Prenatal Testing |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genom-083118-015053 |journal=Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=309β338 |doi=10.1146/annurev-genom-083118-015053 |pmid=33848430 |issn=1527-8204|doi-access=free }}</ref> Initially, only women at-high risk for [[Chromosome abnormality|chromosomal abnormalities]] underwent NIPT, however in recent years it has become routine during pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Heloise |date=2023-07-03 |title=Prenatal testing, disability equality, and the limits of the law |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20502877.2022.2145672 |journal=The New Bioethics |language=en |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=202β215 |doi=10.1080/20502877.2022.2145672 |pmid=36401537 |issn=2050-2877|doi-access=free }}</ref> NIPT is especially accurate at detecting trisomy 21, also known as [[Down syndrome|Down's Syndrome]], which is the most common form of chromosomal disorder in live births.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Queremel Milani |first1=Daniel A. |title=Genetics, Chromosome Abnormalities |date=2025 |work=StatPearls |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557691/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=32491623 |last2=Tadi |first2=Prasanna}}</ref> In England, Whales, and Scotland abortion due to disability is legal under the [[Abortion Act 1967|Abortion Act of 1967]]. In the US, it is estimated that NIPT has potentially led to a 30% decrease of people living with Down's Syndrome.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Graaf |first1=Gert |last2=Buckley |first2=Frank |last3=Skotko |first3=Brian G. |date=2015 |title=Estimates of the live births, natural losses, and elective terminations with Down syndrome in the United States |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajmg.a.37001 |journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A |language=en |volume=167 |issue=4 |pages=756β767 |doi=10.1002/ajmg.a.37001 |pmid=25822844 |issn=1552-4833|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Disability rights activists and scholars have suggested a more critical view of prenatal testing not as a test itself but rather for its implications for people with disabilities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=SchΓΆne-Seifert |first1=Bettina |last2=Junker |first2=Chiara |date=2021-10-26 |title=Making use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): rethinking issues of routinization and pressure |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jpm-2021-0236/html |journal=Journal of Perinatal Medicine |language=en |volume=49 |issue=8 |pages=959β964 |doi=10.1515/jpm-2021-0236 |issn=0300-5577}}</ref> They argue that access to prenatal testing could result in pressure to abort fetuses that might be born with disabilities, and that these pressures rely on eugenics interests and [[Ableism|ableist]] stereotypes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Parens |first1=Erik |last2=Asch |first2=Adrienne |date=January 2003 |title=Disability rights critique of prenatal genetic testing: Reflections and recommendations |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mrdd.10056 |journal=Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=40β47 |doi=10.1002/mrdd.10056 |issn=1080-4013|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=SchΓΆne-Seifert |first1=Bettina |last2=Junker |first2=Chiara |date=2021-10-26 |title=Making use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): rethinking issues of routinization and pressure |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jpm-2021-0236/html |journal=Journal of Perinatal Medicine |language=en |volume=49 |issue=8 |pages=959β964 |doi=10.1515/jpm-2021-0236 |issn=0300-5577}}</ref> This selective abortion relies on the ideas that people with disabilities cannot live desirable lives, that they will not be able to flourish and that they are burdens to their families.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Valentine |first=Riley Clare |date=June 2024 |title=Who has a meaningful life? A care ethics analysis of selective trait abortion |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11019-023-10192-6 |journal=Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy |language=en |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=205β216 |doi=10.1007/s11019-023-10192-6 |pmid=38308115 |issn=1386-7423|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Activists argue that inevitably societal perceptions about disabilities will influence the decision to terminate a pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Heloise |date=2023-07-03 |title=Prenatal Testing, Disability, and the Ethical Society |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20502877.2023.2240173 |journal=The New Bioethics |language=en |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=195β201 |doi=10.1080/20502877.2023.2240173 |pmid=37542705 |issn=2050-2877}}</ref> For this reason, Marsha Saxton suggests that families should question whether or not they are relying on real, factual information about people with disabilities or on stereotypes if they decide to abort a fetus with a disability.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Saxton |first=Marsha |date=1988-07-14 |title=Parenting Screening and Discriminatory Attitudes About Disability |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J013v13n01_20 |journal=Women & Health |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1β2 |pages=217β224 |doi=10.1300/J013v13n01_20 |pmid=3504308 |issn=0363-0242|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
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