WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) today held a news conference to discuss the Prenatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act.

“We have been able to screen for certain conditions in the womb for quite some time now, but I’m concerned that we don’t have a great track record for handling that information very well,” Brownback said. “For some conditions that can be detected in the womb, we are aborting 80% or more of the babies who test positive.

“The effect of this sort of ‘weeding out’ is creating new eugenics, a form of systematic, disability-based discrimination. Once you go down the path of valuing some lives more than others, of saying that people with disabilities don’t have the same dignity and right to live as others, there are very few means that don’t justify the so-called ‘worthy end’ of a disability-free society.”

When an expectant mother receives the news that she is going to have a child with Down syndrome, Spina Bifida, Cystic Fibrosis, or another prenatally-diagnosed condition, surveys suggest that, when struggling with this news, many women do not have access to the best information about the condition that has been diagnosed, the accuracy of the prenatal test that was performed, and contact with services and support groups.

The Brownback-Kennedy Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act ensures that pregnant women facing a positive prenatal test result will be more likely to receive up-to-date, scientific information about the life expectancy, clinical course, intellectual and functional development, and prenatal and postnatal treatment options for their child.

Brownback continued, “We don’t want a world where parents feel driven to justify their children’s existence. We need to link parents with these programs so that they are equipped with all the information they need to hopefully make a life-affirming choice.”

The Prenatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act offers referrals to support services such as hotlines, Web sites, information clearinghouses, adoption registries and parent support networks and programs specific to Down syndrome and other prenatally diagnosed conditions.

The Act will improve epidemiologic understanding of prenatally-diagnosed conditions, ensure confidentiality, support health care providers who perform prenatal tests and deliver results, and authorize a study of the effectiveness of existing health care and family support services for children with disabilities and their families.