United States Implements Nation Wide DNA database

S. 1858: Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007

This bill has become law. Nice how the mainstream media totally ignored it. You would think a nation wide DNA database used by the Government to track its citizens would be of interest.

Brase states that under this bill, "The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research." All 50 states are now routinely providing results of genetic screenings to the Department of Homeland Security and this bill will establish the legality of that practice plus include DNA.

S.1858 will nationalize the genetic testing of all newborn children—and indirectly their families. The bill and its U.S. House companion bill, H.R. 3825, will:
• Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which newborns and children are to be tested.
• Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic test results nationwide.
• Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with a genetic defect or trait.
• Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for government agencies to identify, list, and study
“secondary conditions” of individuals and their families.
• Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge or consent.

Newborn screening is “the first program of populationwide genetic testing.”1 Yet this legislation does not require informed parent consent for testing, surveillance, or research.

http://www.cchconline.org/pdf/S_1858_NBS-DNAWarehouseFINAL.pdf

1: “Newborn Screening: Complexities in Universal Genetic Testing” Nancy S. Green M.D. [March of Dimes] et al. American Journal of Public Health. (96) No. 11, Nov. 2006