New Findings from University of Lubeck in the Area of Bioethics Described (Avoiding ‘selection’?-references To History In Current German Policy Debates About Non-invasive Prenatal Testing)

Health Policy and Law Daily

2021 JUN 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Investigators discuss new findings in Biotechnology - Bioethics. According to news reporting originating in Lubeck, Germany, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “This article investigates the role of historical references and arguments in the current policy debate on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in Germany. It analyses major documents and opinion statements, including the recent parliamentary debate (2019).”

Financial support for this research came from German Research Foundation (DFG).

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Lubeck, “The implementation of NIPT is accompanied by concerns and strong criticism, particularly in Germany. Many perceive the new test to be a problematic step that facilitates selective practices and is reminiscent of eugenics. Analysis of the German policy discourse shows that ‘eugenics’, and even more strongly, ‘selection’, are pivotal terms for rejecting NIPT and its coverage by public health insurance. They touch on a historical dimension in public deliberation, namely the fundamental distancing from the inhuman practices of the National Socialist period and anything that resembles them. However, using these terms to criticize prenatal genetic testing is controversial, and recent discourse demonstrates their avoidance as well, with many supporters of a limited coverage by public health insurance contrasting their approach with more widespread screening. Here, ‘screening’ has a negative connotation, and functions to demarcate the debate in a way that may reflect distance from certain modes of historical reasoning, but still expresses a special need to reconcile prenatal testing with the principles of dignity, inclusion and diversity.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “This article aims to elucidate the concerns involved in the national debates on prenatal testing and to increase awareness of the historical dimensions of the language and reasoning with which such methods are negotiated today and in future.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Avoiding ‘selection’?-references To History In Current German Policy Debates About Non-invasive Prenatal Testing. Bioethics, 2021. Bioethics can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Bioethics - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8519)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Hannes Foth, University of Lubeck, Inst Hist Med & Sci Studies, Konigstr 42, D-23552 Lubeck, Germany.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12880. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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