[Townhall] CBS featured a story Monday about "the country where Down syndrome is disappearing," namely Iceland. Had they uncovered an amazing new treatment for the chromosome abnormality that causes Down syndrome? No, CBS was reporting on the prenatal screenings that caused diagnosis and close to 100 percent abortion rates for unborn Down syndrome babies.In other words, Iceland has not "virtually eliminated" Down syndrome, as this tweet suggests. Iceland promotes screening for the condition and abortion.
"With the rise of prenatal screening tests across Europe and the United States, the number of babies born with Down syndrome has significantly decreased,"CBS opens, "but few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland."
CBS describes the extensive prenatal screenings which "are optional," but "the government states that all expectant mothers must be informed about availability of screening tests, which reveal the likelihood of a child being born with Down syndrome. Around 80 to 85 percent of pregnant women choose to take the prenatal screening test, according to Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik."