Regulating in the Global Village: The Case of Non-Invasive Pre-Natal Tests.

Abstract

In the context of the global village, this paper focuses on the development of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)—a test that provides clinicians and prospective parents with an easy, early and safe opportunity to obtain potentially reliable genetic and health information about the future child. In the first part of the article, we identify various concerns relating to NIPT, now released into an environment that is remarkably difficult to regulate. For example, we question whether the online information about NIPT upon which women might rely will be reliable and up-to-date, whether women might use Internet suppliers to work round local legal restrictions, and whether the stored test results might impact on future children. In the second part of the article, whilst recognising the limited opportunities for making effective regulatory interventions in the global village, we suggest some possible responses to the particular concerns about NIPT identified in the paper.