In April of 2008, President Bush signed into law S.1858 which allows the federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. This was to be implemented within 6 months meaning that this collection is now being carried out. Congressman Ron Paul states that this bill is the first step towards the establishment of a national DNA database.
S.1858, known as The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007, is justified as a "national contingency plan" in that it represents preparation for any sort of public health emergency. The bill states that the federal government should "continue to carry out, coordinate, and expand research in newborn screening" and "maintain a central clearinghouse of current information on newborn screening... ensuring that the clearinghouse is available on the Internet and is updated at least quarterly". Sections of the bill also make it clear that DNA may be used in genetic experiments and tests. Read the full bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xp...
The title of this article is quite missleading, because a lot of people did notice it, and try to stop it. It's just the public at large didn't notice it.
The bill came about as a result of several lawsuits from families whose children's blood was taken. They sued to get the government to stop taking blood from any baby, and to destroy the samples they already had...
The end result was that the Bush Administration passed this law while the suits were still tied up in court.
Any thoughts?
As for me, obviously, I hate this.
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