British group criticizes screening pregnant women for Down syndrome

Published: 2003-10-27

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A British pro-life agency has warned against a recommendation that all pregnant women should be screened for Down syndrome. LIFE, which offers advice and help to pregnant women and campaigns against abortion, said the recommendation from the government-sponsored National Institute for Clinical Excellence amounted to a negative campaign against disabled people. LIFE spokesman Patrick Cusworth called the recommendation "blatantly eugenic in spirit." The National Institute for Clinical Excellence published guidelines on the services that should be available to healthy pregnant women. The aim, it said, was to improve maternity services and standardize the level of care available in England and Wales. The agency said that pregnant women should be offered screening for Down syndrome with a test that provides the current standard of a detection rate above 60 percent and a false-positive rate of less than 5 percent.

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