States Hand Over the DNA of Newborns to DHS

By Matrix | Published: March 22, 2008

Unknown to most new parents, or those who became parents in the last ten or so years, DNA of newborns has been harvested, tested, stored and experimented with by all 50 states. And all 50 states are now routinely providing these results to the Homeland Security Department.

No doubt we can all see the benefits in testing for genetic disorders or genetic traits and tendencies that could be more adequately dealt with, in some cases actually deterring the onset of life-time illness, but that seems not to be the real thrust of these programs. It may have been initially….but not now.

As with all good things, there are always those who seek the more evil path, in essence turning what should have been a life saving tool, a preventative measure into something insidious and inhumane. This is what has happened to this national effort.

Here in Minnesota the state tests for 56 various genetic disorders and variants. At least 1/3 of these tests produce a false positive meaning that a flaw was identified that actually did not exist. Regardless, that false positive becomes part of the permanent record of the child and follows them for the rest of their lives as does any true positives. This means that the child will eventually and most likely face discrimination in employment and the ability to gain health insurance at any cost.