U.S. Senate Likely To Pass Bill Prohibiting Genetic Discrimination
Wednesday Apr 23, 2008U.S. Senate Likely To Pass Bill Prohibiting Genetic Discrimination in Politics and Legislation
UPDATE: The
U.S. Senate passed GINA in a unanimous vote of 95 to 0. The U.S. House of
Representatives passed the bill 414 to 1. Now, the president is expected to
sign the measure.
Original Post:
Today with available modern technology, scientists can map out a person’s entire genetic makeup. From there, we can see the risks a person might have for health conditions in their lifetime.
This could offer some key advantages for medicine — the earlier warning doctors have to treat a medical problem, the better they can prevent or treat the condition.
But there could be dark sides to the technology, as well. What if an employer got a hold of your genetic makeup and decided not to hire you based up what they saw? Or what if an insurance company denied you coverage because they knew you’re at risk of developing a certain illness.
This isn’t a new worry for the lawmakers in Washington D.C. Back in 1995, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter proposed legislation — called the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) — to prohibit any discrimination based on genetics.
Under the bill, insurance companies would not be allowed to deny coverage or raise premiums based on a person’s genetic information.
GINA also makes it illegal for employers to use genetic information to hire, fire, promote, or assign duties to workers.
For over a decade, the bill has had widespread support. The only problem was that it could not pass both the U.S. House and Senate during the same session, reported The New York Times.
For example, the bill passed in the Senate unanimously in both 2003 and 2005, but was blocked in the House both years.
This year, the bill finally went to the House floor and was approved in a vote of 420 to 3. But GINA was held from the Senate floor by Senator Tom Coburn, who expressed concern the bill might encourage lawsuits against employers.
Some employers, Senator Coburn pointed out, might be sued twice if GINA went into effect.
In negotiations with other lawmakers, an agreement on a provision was made to provide protection for employers. Now the bill can move to the Senate for approval.
“We withstood all the criticism we got from lots of people, and now we got it fixed,” said Senator Coburn.
A majority of states already have their own laws that prohibit genetic discrimination, but their laws vary. Whether GINA takes precedence isn’t certain, wrote the Times article.
The bill will most likely be easily passed in the Senate, and is actively being promoted by Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle. President Bush has also shown support.
“[GINA is] the first civil rights act of the 21st century,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe.
