Minnesota Department of Health Moves to Change Need for Informed Concent Laws in the State

The Minnesota Department of Health is pushing a change of law status that would allow them to take DNA samples from newborn children without requiring permission from the parents. This bill is currently in the Minnesota state house and senate. One hundred and 50 years ago treatment comparable to this was called slavery and in my opinion the people of Minnesota should in no uncertain terms let their elected officials know their political careers are over if they vote yes on this bill. It is high time that politicians be held accountable for their actions in this country. Such a program could be used for eugenic purposes. Hitler and the creator of Planned Parenthood were both heavily involved in eugenics movements. This bill brings to mind the nightmarish cultures presented by Huxley in Brave New World, and Orwell in his strangely prophetic book 1984. While Minnesota is in the spotlight over this privacy nightmare legislation, each state is pushing this same agenda to one extent or another. The National Conference of State Legislatures list all 50 of the states as well as Washington, DC and their current provisions for collecting newborns DNA.

According to the Citizens Council on Health Care the state of Minnesota has illegally collected and claims ownership to the DNA of 780,000 children and has provided the DNA of over 42,000 children to genetic researchers without parental consent. Their report goes on to say that approximately 73,000 children are born each year in the state of Minnesota and about 4,200,000 are born in the United States of America and all of them will loose their genetic privacy and DNA ownership rights if this trend in public policy is allowed to continue.

Current law in Minnesota treats this procedure as a opt-out process where parents of newborns must fill out forms to opt out of the collection process. Where parents have not submitted such forms the state assumes it has informed consent and the parents allowed Minnesota to proceed with this procedure.
No one has the right to own another person and with that statement it seems obvious that even parental rights would not allow a parent to give away their children's genetic heritage, the foundational building blocks of their being.

If this bill passes within three generations every person's DNA would be in some bio bank and sold or given to public or private interests who could manipulate,splice, or alter that DNA in any way they wish. This information would be a great boon to employers, insurance providers, medical professionals, and the pharmaceutical industry who could profit off of the collected information and never have to share it with the source. Such ideas cause me to wonder if we should not give our children genetic testing in vitro and patent their genetic code in their name for future protection against theft.

On the subject of informed consent, a Minnesota based researcher reported that according to her polling, the majority of care providers of newborns were never notified of such a procedure and had no knowledge that such a program was in place. No one knew they had a right to have the samples taken at birth destroyed after 45 days with a simple written request, and no one knew that after those 45 days the state of Minnesota claims they own the DNA of that child.

DNA is being collected in every state and the results of some type of research is being given to the Department of Homeland Security. A similar move is being made in the United Kingdom which rejected the notion in 2005.

The only way this agenda will be stalled and reversed is for you to stand up and say no. Investigate the procedures in your state and if you find things you are not happy with step up to the plate and speak out. Form grassroots groups and educate your local governments and neighbors about this subject and decide what you are going to do to stop this from happening in your state.