Prenatal Genetic Testing and Screening: Constructing Needs and Reinforcing Inequities

Abstract

This Article considers the influence and implications of the application of genetic technologies to definitions of disease and to the treatment of illness. The concept of “geneticization” is introduced to emphasize the dominant discourse in today's stories of health and disease and the social construction of biological phenomenon is described. The reassurance, choice and control supposedly provided by prenatal genetic testing and screening are critically examined, and their role in constructing the need for such technology is addressed. Using the stories told about prenatal diagnosis as a focus, the consequences of a genetic perspective for and on women and their health care needs are explored.

La biomedicalización de las vidas de las mujeres: una revisión de sus dimensiones desde las publicaciones en español

“…No obstante, hoy estamos ante la construcción de un sí mismo biológico (Rodríguez 2017: 91) particularmente determinado por subcampos como la genética, la inmunología y las neurociencias. Así, la genetización, como refiere la epidemióloga Abby Lippman (1991), se ha convertido en un proceso continuo por el cual las diferencias biológicas y socioculturales entre individuos se reducen a sus códigos de ADN y las tecnologías genéticas se adoptan para dar respuestas ante la vida. Lucien Sfez (2008: 195) sugiere que esta es una de las utopías de la modernidad y nos conduce a la búsqueda de la salud perfecta.…”

Safeguarding Being: a bioethical principle for genetic nursing care

“…In this step, one may see that even when genetic testing is combined with family pedigree, comprehensive health history, and physical examination, we are led to a geneticized interpretation of a unique whole person. 36 People and behaviour are redefined in genomic vocabulary such as codes, dispositions and blueprints.…”

Abortion, Autonomy and Prenatal Diagnosis

“…The very language of 'defect', 'abnormality', 'disease' and 'risk' presupposes such an image, a kind of prototype of perfection. (quoted in Miringoff, 1991: 53) Furthermore, it has been pointed out that wealthier women undergo more prenatal testing, and that this is the case even where there is no charge for screening services (Lippman, 1991). It has therefore been argued that certain diseases may increasingly correlate with socioeconomic status, leading to the creation of a 'biological underclass' (Nelkin and Tancredi, 1994: 176).…”