The Ethical Issue Of Prenatal Genetic Testing

Prenatal genetic testing is being performed constantly somewhere. Prenatal genetic testing is an ethical issue itself, but the advice these parents are given is a much larger ethical issue. Is it just to preform prenatal testing; in other words is it fair and are the risks and benefits provided equally to the parents? Are parents treated fairly when making the decision for prenatal genetic testing? “As tests become part of routine clinical practice, they become normalized and harder to question or decline” (Deans, Hill, & Lewis 2013). Parents are pressured into preforming these tests because they do not want to feel as if they are being judged or making the wrong decision according to someone else. Prenatal genetic testing can be as simple

This is not the case for all parents though. Some will see things such as defects or abnormalities that they did not want to see or even imagine their precious child having. That then leads to the question of options for the pregnancy. Abortion is another huge ethical topic that could be related back to prenatal genetic testing. The concern is what the physicians or medical personnel are advising these parents to do with the pregnancy once they see an abnormality. Medical personnel have a huge impact on the decision these parents will make for their child. Parents trust medical personnel to tell them the truth and guide them in the correct direction with what is best for them and their unborn child. There are hundreds of opinions on weighing the risks and benefits of keeping or terminating a pregnancy. The term ethical pops up all over the internet when you search for prenatal genetic testing because of the pregnancy termination. “In January of 2007, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) released new guidelines recommending that all pregnant women, not just women over 35, be offered prenatal “fetal chromosomal screening” and, if warranted by the screening, prenatal diagnostic testing” (Mills & Erzikova,