Free Republic

The introduction of a controversial new prenatal screening technique has led to a dramatic drop in the number of babies born with Down’s syndrome. Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) was introduced in some NHS hospitals in England to more accurately test unborn babies for certain conditions. It has been claimed to detect Down’s syndrome with around 99 per cent accuracy. The number of babies born with the condition fell by 30 per cent in hospitals where NIPT is being used, and The Sunday Times reported that more women who have the test go on to have abortions. No assessment The Government...

Until recently, if a pregnant woman wanted to determine the genetic health of her baby, she had to endure a series of crude and invasive tests. Early in her second trimester, she would be given a blood test called the triple screen, which measures levels of three hormones in her bloodstream. The results of that test, combined with other factors such as the mother’s age, weight, and ethnicity as well as information gleaned from a high-definition ultrasound, provided a clue to whether her baby was at risk of having a chromosomal disorder (such as Down syndrome) or a neural tube...