Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS PART C-SEMINARS IN MEDICAL GENETICS
Volume 145C, Issue 1, Pages 99-104Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.c.30118
Keywords
ethics; screening; risk assessment
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We discuss the clinical implications regarding disclosure of risk assessment for trisomy 21 screening results in the first versus second trimester. Based on the ethical principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, and justice, we argue that routinely offering first trimester risk assessment in centers qualified to provide it is ethically obligatory and routinely withholding the results of first trimester risk assessment is ethically unjustified. As risk for trisomy 21 occurs along a continuum, no pregnant woman is without risk; thus, offering diagnostic testing to all women is ethically justified. Informed consent and personal choice regarding diagnostic testing and termination of pregnancy shape patients' decisions to undergo first trimester risk assessment for trisomy 21. Appropriate counseling is required to allow for individual choice regarding timing of disclosure. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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