The
government is harvesting samples of DNA from every newborn child
in the country, storing them in monolithic bio banks and providing
them to outside researchers and other agencies such as the Department
of Homeland Security, all without the consent or knowledge of
parents.
It sounds like the stuff of dystopian nightmare, and it is,
but it is also reality.
At Infowars we have been tracking and reporting the story for
years, now it has hit the headlines once again this week with
CNN
probing the issue via the case of Isabel Brown
(pictured) from Florida.
Isabel's mother Annie Brown was confused when she was told
by health authorities that her daughter had a gene that put
her at risk for cystic fibrosis, because she had never consented
for genetic testing to be carried out on her child.
Ms Brown then learned that genetic testing of all newborn babies
is routine in every state, and that DNA is kept indefinitely
by the government, without parents ever knowing.
"We were appalled when we found out," says Brown,
who's a registered nurse. "Why do they need to store my
baby's DNA indefinitely? Something on there could affect her
ability to get a job later on, or get health insurance."
Watch CNN's report:
In April 2008, President Bush signed into law a bill which
formerly announced the process that the federal government has
been engaged in for years, screening the DNA of all newborn
babies in the U.S. within six months of birth.
Described as a "national contingency plan" the justification
for the
law S. 1858, known as The Newborn Screening
Saves Lives Act of 2007, is 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, both by the government and
by researchers chosen to handle the DNA samples and the information
that goes with them.
Many have described the law as the first step towards the establishment
of a national DNA database, like the one in the UK.
In 2006
and 2007,
then, Senator Obama, filed legislation that would create a national
DNA database. The same bill was filed by Sen. Patrick Kennedy
in
2008. The bills required parental consent, but
all three died in the Senate.
Brase states that S.1858 and H.R. 3825, the House
version of the bill, will:
Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which
newborns and children are to be tested.
Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic
test results nationwide.
Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status
and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with
a genetic defect or trait.
Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for
government agencies to identify, list, and study "secondary
conditions" of individuals and their families.
Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge
or consent.
"Soon, under this bill, the DNA of all citizens
will be housed in government genomic biobanks and considered
governmental property for government research," Brase
writes. "The DNA taken at birth from every
citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen
becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic
research."
"The public is clueless. S. 1858 imposes
a federal agenda of DNA databanking and population-wide genetic
research. It does not require consent and there are no requirements
to fully inform parents about the warehousing of their child's
DNA for the purpose of genetic research."
The government may outsource genetic research
to private companies, who may manipulate, alter or splice the
DNA in any way they see fit. Hundreds of samples have already
been used in government comissioned studies.
Such information represents a goldmine to employers, insurance
companies, medical institutions, and big pharma.
Under such conditions we are faced with the prospect of a society
that is literally the mirror image of the nightmarish vision
outlined by Aldous Huxley in his 1932 novel Brave New World,
where individuals are categorized in a social hierarchy according
to their genetic traits.
DNA of newborns has already been harvested, tested,
stored and experimented with nationwide.
The
National Conference of State Legislatures lists
for all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the
various statutes or regulatory provisions under which newborns'
DNA is already being collected.
In addition, all 50 states are now routinely
providing these results to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007 merely
established this practice within the law.
The History Channel recently featured a report on the issue
as part of its Eternal
Lifeprogram. Here is the segment followed
by a local news report on the matter from kxan Austin:
Here is a more detailed report from kxan
news, aired last November:
In certain states, authorities are required to destroy a child's
DNA sample if a parent demands they do so. Ludicrously, parents
wishing to do this must fill in a form like this
one from Texas or this
one from Minnesota.
In other states, parents have to put their request in writing,
however, there is no legal requirement for states to destroy
the samples.
The practice of taking DNA from all newborns is not limited
to the U.S.
In the UK, a similar DNA harvesting program was rejected
in 2005 by The Human Genetics Commission, who cited
cost and ethical problems in a report to government ministers.
The retention of newborn screening cards has also caused controversy
in Australia and New Zealand where the DNA has been used by
police to help to solve crimes. A sample in New Zealand was
used to identify the father of a dead child against the wishes
of the mother.
There is no doubt that the practice is in operation all over
the developed world.
Unless this practice is widely exposed and publicized, we could
find ourselves sleepwalking towards the basis for a new eugenics
movement, the practice of "perfecting" the human race
through genetic manipulation, previously endorsed by Planned
Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, and toyed with by the likes
of Adolf Hitler.
The
government is harvesting samples of DNA from every newborn child
in the country, storing them in monolithic bio banks and providing
them to outside researchers and other agencies such as the Department
of Homeland Security, all without the consent or knowledge of
parents.
