So, the other day an article was forwarded to me about how the Government WILL OWN THE DNA OF THE CHILDREN FOREVER!!!! DO SOMETHING NOW!!!!!  The person forwarding the article just wanted to know what I thought of it.  So here goes.

The article cites to but does not provide a link to a WorldNetDaily article about some pending legislation in the U.S. that is slated to be signed by the President.  The other half of the article is about efforts in the U.K. to do some really weird and scary stuff like genetically profile potential criminals as pre-determined by psychologists in the U.K. for children as young as 5.  I didn’t bother to look at the stuff in the U.K. after discovering that the part written about the pending legislation in the United States was pretty much completely made up.

The first article is more or less a re-write of the WorldNetDaily article without really adding anything new.  I suppose re-writing what someone else has written may pass for journalism on NaturalNews.com.  It was published at any rate.

From the WorldNetDaily article (emphasis added):

An Orwellian plan that has state and federal governments staking claim to the ownership of every newborn’s DNA in perpetuity is advancing under the radar of most privacy rights activists, but would turn the United States’ citizenry into a huge pool of subjects for involuntary scientific experimentation, according to one organization alarmed over the issue.

So it passes for journalism to simply report on what an organization says about an issue without fact checking or even making a cursory review of the claims to see if they have an element of truth to them.  This is not the first time WorldNetDaily has done exactly this kind of thing.  It is not like I spend my time monitoring the stuff that they write but the two times I have decided to look into something they have written it has been a huge steaming smelly pile of imaginative writing.  They seem to just repeat things from press releases from political action groups that are of course looking for more money and funding.

The organization that is “alarmed over the issue” is the Citizens’ Council on Health Care.  They also need your money, donate now.   OK, just kidding about that but I wonder how many new hits came to their website from the WND article and how many of them also donated to help keep up the fight.

It is possible I suppose for some group to be compiling a large DNA database on every child tested and seeking to keep records on all of them but for now there is no evidence of it.

The two bills in the cross hairs of the CCHC are Senate Bill 1858 and House Resolution 3825.  You can find the latest versions of these bills with a search for “S.1858” or “H.R.3825” at www.thomas.gov.

The bills basically allow for the continued spending of federal government money on newborn screening activities and will coordinate continued efforts in screening and treatment for some of these diseases.  Utah already has a law requiring newborn testing and if you don’t comply you can be reported for medical neglect unless the refusal to submit to testing has a religious basis.  This is pretty much what has already been going on for many years now.  There is no significant change to existing law in these bills, no reason to say that the sky is falling.

And what exactly does the newborn screening test for?  There are several rare but serious diseases that are tested for that can cause mental retardation or may require hospitalization if not treated early enough.  One of these disorders is called “Maple Syrup Urine Disease“.

The blood spots will be retained in Utah for a minimum of 90 days before disposal and prior to disposal they will be de-identified and autoclaved.

Please take anything you read in WND with several grains of salt.  It is unfortunately a speaking platform for several people and facts are often not checked at all.

Comments Welcome