DNA databases prelude to return of eugenics? Warning issued over 'full genomic scans' on babies

By Bob Unruh

An organization that has been battling Minnesota state procedures in which DNA from every newborn is collected and warehoused says virtually all states do the same thing, and the alarming trend eventually could lead the United States back into eugenics.

The report from Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care,says, "Throughout history, proponents of eugenics have focused on the reproduction of children, either through encouraging the 'healthy' to reproduce or discouraging the 'unhealthy' from procreation. This focus has been evidenced in history by 29 state sterilization laws … and the horrific Nazi campaign aimed at ridding Germany of the 'unfit' – the Jews, the physically deformed, the mentally retarded, the 'feebleminded,' the inferior, the epileptic, the deaf, the blind, 'those suffering from hereditary conditions,' the deviant 'asocial' and the politically dissident."

The report then continued, "That the focus on reproduction still exists today is more than troubling.

"The authors of a 2001 study 'were struck' by the large number of state government officials who agreed with a specific statement regarding assessment of a child's suitability for future reproduction," the report said. "Nineteen (54 percent) of 35 … respondents who routinely provide counseling – mostly newborn genetic screening follow-up staff at state health departments across the country – thought it important when giving advice to parents to 'identify children who might be, for genetic reasons, unsuitable choices for future reproduction,'" the report said. ....