All 50 states already require all newborn babies to be
screened for
certain diseases, most notably PKU, which causes mental
retardation
that can be prevented entirely by putting the baby on a
special
diet. Tests are being developed for more and more
diseases.
Should newborn screening be limited to a few serious and
preventable
diseases or should it be expanded as much as possible?
Should
testing be mandated even for diseases for which there is no
effective
treatment or where the test shows a risk, not a certainty of
getting
the disease? For example, newborn screening is detecting
mild
forms of cystic fibrosis, which may not actually cause
illness.
The topic here is what screening should the
government mandate for all newborns, not what choices parents
should
have. Make sure to focus on newborn screening, not
prenatal
diagnosis. If your opinion is that some
newborn
screening is good and some is bad, your conclusion must argue
what
principle you think we should use to draw the line between the
two.