On October 8, 2008, President Bush signed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act into law. The Baptist Press summarizes this legislation (authored by Senator Sam Brownback):
The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act requires parents whose children receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or another malady to be provided with the latest information on the condition and be informed of support services available. This would apply to a diagnosis on a child before birth or until a year after birth. The measure also would establish a registry of families willing to adopt special needs children.
The report goes on to note:
It has been estimated about 90 percent of American children diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome are aborted, sometimes after their parents have been given hopeless descriptions of their offsprings’ futures. A similar abortion percentage exists for unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., has reported.
Read the whole report.
(HT: Daniel L. Patterson)