Eugenics: Harvard Study Leads to Legislation

Harvard study leads to legislation

By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer March 17, 2005

WASHINGTON --A study about mothers of Down syndrome children that was published just this month by a Harvard Medical School student has quickly made its way to the halls of Congress.

Brian Skotko's survey found that doctors don't provide pregnant women with enough information about Down syndrome and the prospects for their child after birth. All too often, said Skotko, the mothers received the news about their child in a negative, gloomy fashion that failed to relay any positive information about the child's life expectancy and possible development.

On Wednesday, two senators offered new legislation that would require doctors to provide expectant mothers with up-to-date, scientific information about the child's condition, possible treatment options and expected development. It also calls for a study of existing health care and support services.

"Our real vision should be for families to grow and prosper and continue to bring new life into the world -- and we need to support that effort," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Skotko, also a student at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, culled his study results from 1,250 survey responses he got from mothers in Down syndrome parent organizations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Colorado, and North Carolina.

"Doctors continue to find it very challenging to deliver a diagnosis like Down syndrome to an otherwise happy expectant mom," said Skotko, who has a sister with Down syndrome.
Beth Allard, a Boston-area parent who brought her young son Ben to Capitol Hill Wednesday, said when an expectant mother is told her child will have Down syndrome or some other condition, it is scary and confusing.

Kennedy and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said parents need to be equipped to handle the diagnosis.

"For some conditions that can be detected in the womb, we are aborting 80 percent or more of the babies who test positive," said Brownback. "The effect of this sort of weeding out is creating new eugenics, a form of systematic, disability-based discrimination."