Disability rights advocates have welcomed new legislation in the United States which requires medical professionals to provide accurate information on the outcomes of people with Down syndrome and inform mothers with a Down diagnosis of adoption resources.

This legislation was brought in following studies showing that information from physicians fails to give accurate information about the advances and possibilities of living with Downs Syndrome. For
example, in the past 25 years, the average life expectancy for a person with the condition has more than doubled to 56 years and parents of children with Down have just as many accomplishments to
celebrate as parents of children without the condition: high school graduations, first apartments and full-time jobs.

The Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act is designed to establish databases of information and registries to give parents better access to support, adoption resources and accurate information about Down syndrome and other genetic conditions such as spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism, both before and after birth.

The law was co-sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback, an anti-abortion proponent from Kansas, and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a Democrat who supports abortion rights.

Isn’t it time for a similar bipartisan “right to know” law in the UK?

Share/Save