"Life with Down syndrome can be very challenging for both parents and kids, and according to studies, 90 percent of women whose fetuses test positive choose to abort. Now, because of a technological advance, pro-life and disability advocates worry those numbers may rise even higher. Currently, Down syndrome is picked up with blood screens and ultrasounds, then confirmed with invasive tests such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling, which insert needles into the uterus and slightly increase the risk of miscarriage. Some women forgo the tests for that reason. Next year, though, new, noninvasive genetic screens that pose no harm to fetuses or mothers may start arriving in doctors' offices. If they become common, they could result in more diagnoses, more abortions, a dwindling Down population and a drop in support for families who carry to term—what Down activist Patricia Bauer has called 'the elimination of an entire class of people.' Even now, only 5,000 babies are born with the syndrome each year." Visit:
New Tests for Down Syndrome Raise Tough Issues | Newsweek Health for Life | Newsweek.com: "
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