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Prenatal Tests Have High Failure Rate, Triggering Abortions
NBC NEWS ^ | December 14th 2014 | Susan Donaldson James

Posted on 12/15/2014 1:29:03 PM PST by Morgana

Zachary Diamond and Angie Nunes look at their "wonderfully healthy" 6-month-old son Solomon, knowing they might have terminated the pregnancy — all because of a popular prenatal test that was wrong.

The Portland, Oregon, couple was encouraged to use a new noninvasive blood test that their doctor said was "99 percent" accurate in predicting chromosomal abnormalities.

The test revealed the fetus had Trisomy 18 or Edwards syndrome, a painful genetic condition that is nearly always fatal, and their doctor told them to prepare for the worst.

"If you google Trisomy 18, your heart will just shatter with the prognosis," Diamond, 38, told NBC News. "The prognosis is godless, just awful. Angie was crying on the sofa for hours on end."

Nunes, 39, has muscular dystrophy and worried about how they could care for a child with such severe disabilities. Only after a 16-week ultrasound and a second screening test did doctors realize she was probably carrying a normal baby. Hundreds of thousands of pregnant women have used these noninvasive prenatal tests since they appeared on the market in 2011, with little reason to doubt their effectiveness. And indeed, studies have found the tests to be more accurate than standard screening.

But positive results can be wrong 50 percent or more of the time. And an investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting published in the Boston Globe found that "likely hundreds" of women are aborting fetuses based on this new generation of testing. One company reported a 6.2 percent abortion rate based on screening results alone — and without further testing, there is no way to know how many of those may have been due to a false positive.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Conspiracy; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: abortion; edwardssyndrome; prenatal; prenataltest; prenataltesting; prenataltests; prolife; tests; trisomy18

1 posted on 12/15/2014 1:29:03 PM PST by Morgana
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To: Morgana
The FDA probably approved them precisely because health babies would be aborted.

As far as the feral government is concerned, you can never abort too many US citizens.

2 posted on 12/15/2014 1:31:31 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Any energy source that requires a subsidy is, by definition, "unsustainable.")
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To: Morgana

“But positive results can be wrong 50 percent or more of the time.”

So much for 99% accurate.


3 posted on 12/15/2014 1:34:05 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Good Muslims, like good Nazis or good liberals, are terrible human beings.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Right. 99% accurate half the time...


4 posted on 12/15/2014 1:36:04 PM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: Morgana

Whoever allowed this to happen should be brought up on charges.


5 posted on 12/15/2014 1:38:46 PM PST by huldah1776
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To: Morgana

My 14 year old smart, handsome and extremely talented (baseball) grandson was one of those “accurate” tests for Down’s. My daughter is profoundly glad she ignore that test.


6 posted on 12/15/2014 1:45:51 PM PST by Wiser now (Socialism does not eliminate poverty, it guarantees it.)
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To: Morgana

The daughter of one of my daughter’s best friends was born with Trisomy 18. it was never picked up on an ultrasound and she assumed she was having a healthy baby. The little girl is now 7 and has a host of medical problems but the love and care she is surrounded with is inspiring. She has made progress so far beyond what anyone could have expected.
When my daughter was pregnant, with her 3rd, a girl, the ultrasound revealed severe club feet. My son-in-law was born with the same condition so it wasn’t really a surprise. Her attitude was if this is the worst that can happen, big deal, we’ll work it out. My grand daughter was born absolutely perfect, no club feet. Someone just asked my daughter if she went to Build-A Baby Workshop for this gorgeous little child.


7 posted on 12/15/2014 2:19:55 PM PST by surrey
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To: Wiser now

When my wife got pregnant with twins at 44 yrs old, the Doctor recommened Amnio. She refused and said regardless of what it showed she was “having them”.

God bestowed upon us 2 beautiful perfectly healthy boys. They are now 16 and excell in wrestling, track and cross country. Both lettered in 3 sports their Freshman yr.


8 posted on 12/15/2014 3:28:02 PM PST by traderrob6
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To: traderrob6

She was wise to refuse the amnio. My sister became pregnant with twins at age 36. Because of her age her doctor insisted she have an amnio. The procedure caused the death of one of her perfectly healthy twin boys.


9 posted on 12/15/2014 6:45:45 PM PST by Wiser now (Socialism does not eliminate poverty, it guarantees it.)
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