September-October 1999

Hard Copy: $5

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Prenatal screening for "disabling" genetic traits seems self-evidently good to some people. But the disability rights movement has criticized such testing as morally problematic and driven by misinformation about what it is like to live with a disability. This supplement, the report of a two-year project at The Hastings Center, explores concerns about the hurtful message that testing may send, the problematic attitudes toward children that prenatal testing can foster, and the way such testing can allow an evaluation of traits to stand in for an evaluation of persons. It offers recommendations regarding genetic counseling and educating people about disabilities to help inform public conversation about what genetic tests we might permit and which we should not employ.

Bound, hard-copes of this Special Report may be ordered from our Publications Department. The price is listed above (excluding postage).  Supplies are limited.  Contact us by telephone at (845) 424-4040, ext. 234 or at publications@thehastingscenter.org.