Bioethics experts fear a surge in abortion rates with the popularity of Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening (NIPT), a blood test which determines the unborn child's sex and health. Syndromes detected by the process include Down's, Patau's, and Edwards'.
Medical experts express concern over parental decisions based on gender:
“Abortions on the basis of sex appear to be rare in Britain. However, this could change with a new DNA testing method that allows the baby’s sex to be revealed to prospective parents much earlier that the standard 18-20 week scan...”
Certain specialists foresee the medical advancement as a digression in priority as well as a hazard to the feminine population. Life will be increasingly determined by its estimated success. In addition, women who fail in certain parts of the world are treated severely with a "failure" to deliver a boy---hence, a probable increase in the abortion rates of females:
“We know that some women are under strong pressure to give birth to boys, and may be subject to abuse if they give birth to a girl. If left unchecked, use of this technique to determine sex could lead to an increase in sex-selective abortions here, and to Britain becoming a destination for them.”
The specialists continue with a definite eye on the devastating effects of genome sequencing, a DNA testing which predicts a child's likely future genetic, personality, and even academic rates:
"The test also allows whole genome sequencing which is a serious thing. People are already paying thousands for school fees so it is not unreasonable they would pay to find out if their child will have genetic traits that would allow them to perform well. We’re not there quite yet, but we’re not far off, and we are calling for a moratorium to be put in place now before we get there to stop this sort of thing happening.”
Dr. Anthony McCarthy adds an insightful dimension to the argument; with astonishing honesty and vision, he suggests that lethal discrimination is not limited to NIPT, but is in fact, a characteristic---even the nature of---all abortion:
"All abortion is lethal discrimination, whether on the basis of disability or sex or age or location in the womb. Abortion choices are conditioned by a presumption that certain classes of human beings can be deliberately attacked by others. This is not about medicine but its corruption. And how sad that the abortion industry means that it is not safe to practice NIPT.”
