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Prenatal blood test for Down’s syndrome is to be introduced in Germany despite ethical and legal concerns

BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e4836 (Published 18 July 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e4836
  1. Annette Tuffs
  1. 1Heidelberg

A new prenatal test that can detect Down’s syndrome from a mother’s blood sample is expected to be introduced soon in Germany, despite a legal expert saying that the test does not comply with Germany’s law on genetic diagnostic tests.

Although the government official with responsibility for people with learning disabilities and several ethicists oppose the new test, because they fear it will lead to more abortions and discrimination against children with Down’s syndrome, the president of the German Medical Association, Frank-Ulrich Montgomery, is in favour of it. …

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