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THE GOP’S NEXT TARGET? PRENATAL TESTS  
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Jessica Valenti
February 13, 2024
Abortion, Every Day
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_ The cruelty is the point _

Pregnant woman receiving an ultrasound., FDA

 

For months
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tracking
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anti-abortion movement’s quiet campaign to force women to carry
nonviable pregnancies to term. Their plan includes changing
legislation and medical guidelines, forcing doctors to lie to women
about their pregnancies, and requiring that women meet with
anti-abortion “counselors” before ending a doomed pregnancy.

These days, though, I’m keeping a close eye on another part of that
broader strategy: attacks on prenatal testing. And this piece
from _Associated Press
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a good reminder of why, exactly, conservatives are going after
women’s ability to find out as much as possible about their
pregnancies.

The _AP _piece looks at how important prenatal testing has become in
post-_Roe_ America, and how women—especially those in states with
bans—are increasingly relying on early testing. Doctors say more and
more patients are asking for early ultrasounds and more genetic
screenings; the hope, obviously, is to catch any issues as quickly as
possible.

The article gets into the various kinds of prenatal testing and
ultrasounds that patients receive—and the massive problem of timing.
Many of these tests aren’t done until _after_ some states’ legal
limit for abortion care. With ultrasounds, for example, you can’t
see details of the fetus until a certain, later, point in pregnancy.
Still, patients are asking for those ultrasounds at 10 to 13 weeks so
they can have abortions under the wire if necessary.

The other issue is that genetic testing results can sometimes take
weeks to come back—that’s time that patients don’t have when
they live in a state with an abortion ban. North Carolina OBGYN Dr.
Clayton Alfonso said, “More people are trying to find these things
out earlier to try to fit within the confines of laws that in my mind
don’t have a place in medical practice.”

The anti-abortion movement _knew_ that all of this would happen
after _Roe_ was overturned—they knew that women would be desperate
to get prenatal tests, and that the timing would be a big issue.
That’s why prenatal testing is such a huge part of their campaign.

The short version is that the anti-abortion movement simply doesn’t
want women to know what’s going on with their pregnancies. They’re
ready to “counsel” those who get devastating diagnoses, but it’s
even better for them if a pregnant person never finds out that
there’s a problem to begin with.

That’s why anti-abortion activists are ramping up claims that
prenatal tests are inaccurate, that the “testing industry” is
corrupt, and that women need to be protected from genetic tests and
ultrasounds. As such, their plan includes a few tactics:

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Passing legislation that would require doctors to tell patients that
“no test is 100% accurate” or that they might be ending a healthy
pregnancy. (The cruelty is the point.)

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Requiring that hospitals direct patients who are given fatal fetal
diagnoses to anti-abortion “prenatal counselors” and groups, who
will then give those patients fake or misleading information about the
reliability of prenatal testing.

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Spreading scare-tactics about prenatal tests to shame women out of
taking them, using the language of “informed consent.” The idea is
to dissuade patients who have gotten initial test results (like from
bloodwork) from further testing. They’ll highlight the possible risk
of miscarriage, and use language that suggests ‘responsible’
parents would never agree to tests like an amniocentesis.

In addition to all of these truly horrific policies, Republicans are
also going to be pushing the FDA to reconsider the approval of some of
prenatal tests. Mark my words. In the same way that they’ve been
going after the FDA to repeal mifepristone approval, they
are _absolutely _going to target prenatal tests.

Remember, it wasn’t so long ago that nearly 100 Republican
lawmakers sent a letter to the FDA
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about the labeling requirements and regulatory measures around the
tests. Sen. Steve Daines said
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“It is unacceptable that the FDA is not conducting proper oversight
on these inconsistent prenatal tests that often pressure women into
making a life-ending decision for their baby.”

The _Associated Press_ reports, in fact, that the FDA is going to be
releasing a new regulatory framework this Spring around requirements
for prenatal tests—so it’s something we’re going to have to keep
a close eye on.

I’ve said it many times, but it’s worth repeating: make sure your
legislators are on the lookout for Republican-proposed bills that
contain language about prenatal tests and counseling, perinatal
hospice care, or nonviable pregnancies. They’re banking on us not
noticing—or being too afraid of taking on legislation they say is
pro-women or pro-family. We can’t let that happen.

_Jessica Valenti is a feminist writer, NYC native. 7 books, 1 kid & a
lot of opinions._

* Anti-abortion movement
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* non-viable pregnancies
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