by Patti Donovan
(Health Secrets) Are you aware of the DNA Databank? In April of 2008, President Bush signed into law S.1858 which allows the federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. Six months later the law was fully implemented, and data collection is now being carried out at the DNA Databank.
At the time, S.1858, known as The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act , was justified as a national contingency plan in that prepared for any sort of public health emergency. The bill stated that the federal government should “continue to carry out, coordinate, and expand research in newborn screening” and “maintain a central clearinghouse of current information on newborn screening… ensuring that the clearinghouse is available on the Internet and is updated at least quarterly”. Sections of the bill also made it clear that DNA may be used in genetic experiments and tests. You can read the full bill at the first link below.
Twila Brase, president of the Citizens’ Council on Health Care at the time warned that this new law represents the beginning of nationwide genetic testing. Brase stated that S.1858 and H.R. 3825, the House version of the bill, would:
• Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which newborns and children are to be tested.
• Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic test results nationwide.
• Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with a genetic defect or trait.
• Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for government agencies to identify, list, and study “secondary conditions” of individuals and their families.
• Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge or consent.
Her entire analysis of the implications of this bill can be accessed at the second source below.
Brase stated that under this bill, “The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research.” All 50 states are now routinely providing results of genetic screenings to the Department of Homeland Security and this bill established the legality of that practice.
Ron Paul vigorously argued against this bill making the following comments before the US House of Representatives: