New bill requires better education for prenatal screening

DNA-based prenatal screenings are growing into a multi-billion dollar industry. While the tests can be helpful, studies show results may be misleading. A bipartisan bill is mandating education about the screenings, an effort that could save babies from abortion.

Using blood from the mother, non-invasive DNA screenings identify placental DNA in the plasma, and test for chromosomal abnormalities. Down syndrome, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, and spina bifida are a few identifiable abnormalities used to sell the tests to pregnant mothers.

The screenings are offered as a non-invasive alternative to invasive diagnostic tests like amniocentesis. Many invasive tests are performed at about 15 weeks gestation. Non-invasive DNA tests are offered as early as nine weeks after conception but provide little to no diagnostic details that aid in analyzing results. Some studies show better information on prenatal screenings actually leads expectant mothers away from taking the tests.

“Expectant mothers ought to have access to the best available information about the value of non-invasive prenatal screening technology,” said U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., the bill’s co-sponsor. In an official statement on her website, Roybal-Allard noted non-invasive DNA screenings provide false alarms 50 percent of the time.

The bill’s other co-sponsor is Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a pro-life Republican from Washington. Beutler's daughter is awaiting a kidney transplant after being born with a rare genetic condition. Doctors gave her a death-sentence diagnosis following a prenatal screening, but Beutler received an in-utero treatment that saved the baby’s life.

“I’ll never forget what it was like when we were told we were facing a risky pregnancy,” Beutler said. “We must make sure they’re equipped with all of the facts.”

The legislation requires specific, peer-reviewed education programs that educate expectant families seeking prenatal tests of the risks, benefits, and alternatives to prenatal testing. If families understand the tests aren’t 100 percent accurate, more might choose life for their unborn children. Studies show that 67 percent of pregnancies were terminated following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.