Down’s syndrome test

SIR – A new prenatal test for Down’s syndrome is to become available on the NHS. All pregnant women are offered disability detection tests, but the new test will be offered to women whose babies are at “high risk” of having the genetic condition.

However, although this test is said to avoid the need for the “risky and invasive” amniocentesis procedure, which carries a 1 per cent risk of miscarriage, results from the new DNA test are not considered to be as accurate. Therefore we can expect more false positive results, leading to more abortions. Currently, more than 90 per cent of women with positive results choose to terminate the pregnancy.

The point of the test, which cannot tell how severely any individual baby will be affected, is to save the state money, while purporting to offer choice. In Denmark, 98 per cent of unborn babies with Down’s syndrome are aborted.

How this squares with the modern obsession with diversity and unconditional acceptance no one has yet determined.

Ann Farmer

Woodford Green, Essex