{"id":260117,"date":"2022-01-03T16:45:19","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T22:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=260117"},"modified":"2022-01-03T15:51:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T21:51:23","slug":"devastating-cost-wildly-inaccurate-prenatal-screening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/devastating-cost-wildly-inaccurate-prenatal-screening\/","title":{"rendered":"The devastating cost of wildly inaccurate prenatal screening tests"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The New York Times is finally drawing<\/a> attention to the frequent inaccuracies of non-invasive prenatal screening tests (NIPT), revealing that certain prenatal genetic tests are wrong up to 93% of the time<\/em><\/strong>. This has major implications, given the fact that families have frequently reported experiencing pressure to abort after receiving a prenatal diagnosis for a child.<\/p>\n

Live Action News has reported<\/a> on these prenatal screening tests in the past, noting that these tests are marketed as a way for expectant parents to learn if a preborn child has a genetic health condition. However, the tests are meant to be used as a screening tool \u2014 to show that there is a chance<\/em> the child may<\/em> have a health condition, and that further diagnostic testing is recommended. Instead, the tests are being advertised as and used as diagnostic tools, which leads many parents to abort their babies for health conditions they may not even have<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Testing is certainly profitable,\u00a0but rarely accurate<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As reported by the Times, about a third of pregnant women take these non-invasive screening tests produced by companies including Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics. NIPTs look for small missing pieces of chromosomes called microdeletions, or for missing or extra copies of entire chromosomes.<\/p>\n

As these companies work to outsell each other, they have created screening tests for additional and increasingly more rare conditions \u2014 but the tests, though profitable, are not dependable. The market size is estimated to be at least $600 million to a billion dollars and growing. Yet research has shown that so-called “positive” results (which only means an increased risk<\/em> that the child has the condition) can be wrong more than 90%<\/em> of the time.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s horrific that prenatal tests are used to \u201cjustify\u201d abortion. <\/p>\n

Every child, regardless of their health, deserves a chance at life and to be loved. https:\/\/t.co\/94SqToW6wA<\/a><\/p>\n

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) January 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n