Serving the Imperfect

The Stark Choice Between Compassion & Fear-Fueled Modern Eugenics

The use of non-invasive pre-natal testing (NIPT) to diagnose genetic disorders in unborn babies has been making inroads in obstetric medicine for most of a decade now. As acceptance of the technology has grown, public debates over the costs of such tests have erupted in Europe and North America, with many people arguing that they should be covered by government-subsidized healthcare systems.

In Canada, Germany, France, and the UK, the subject has also fueled debates about the ethics and fairness of performing such tests for the purpose of weeding out persons with genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome or Turner syndrome. The Canadian magazine Public Policy Options noted that, "as the use of NIPT increases,...