Santorum's Incomplete View of Prenatal Testing
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, a current frontrunner in the Republican race for presidential candidacy, suggested on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that prenatal testing is done primarily to identify genetic disorders and therefore leads to abortions. As such, he cast a dim view on prenatal testing, in particular amniocentesis.
This headlining sound bite hit me square in the jaw after having interviewed leaders in the field of prenatal testing for upcoming articles which will appear in March and April on this website and/or in ADVANCE print editions.
Throughout the interviews I was struck by the miracle of medical and technological advances which could enable us not only to determine the status of a developing fetus, but also to identify those for whom prenatal therapies could be beneficial, even life saving. A prenatal HIV test, for example, has allowed for pre-delivery prophylactic anti-retroviral therapy which has cut the transference rate of HIV from mother to newborn from 30 percent to one percent. Another test, now in the last stages of development, is a rapid Group Strep B (GSB) test. Did Santorum consider that about 8,000 newborns die from GBS-related infections each year in the U.S.? And that about 30 percent of reproductive-age women across the nation carry the bacteria?
Santorum's feet are being held to the fire for his suggestion by his Republican primary opponents, the Democratic party, and all manner of political pundits. But how about the medical community? What say you?
It is unfortunate that politicians - on both sides of the aisle - present a truncated view of the truth. There is more to the immensity of accomplishments in prenatal testing than finding a path to abortion. This blog does not presume to be an indictment of Santorum's intentions or capabilities. But we must demand clarity pertaining to the entire picture of prenatal testing if it is to be discussed at all. Too often it is only the sound bite that sticks with the population at large.