Bill to help expecting parents, families of children with disabilities

Contact: Brian Hart, Becky Ogilvie; both with Sam Brownback, United States Senator - Kansas, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback applauded President Bush for signing into law S.1810, the Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act.  S.1810 requires that families who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other condition, pre-natally or up until a year after birth, be given up-to-date information about the nature of the condition and connection with support services and networks that could offer assistance.

"President Bush signed into law a bill that will help an untold number of expecting parents who learn that their unborn child may be born with a disability," said Brownback.  "This is a great victory for the culture of life we should all seek to promote.  Currently, 90 percent of children pre-natally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.  That number is much too high and suggests that we as a society are not doing everything we can to protect every human life, at every stage."

The Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act would provide for the expansion and further development of a national clearinghouse on information for parents of children with disabilities, so that the clearinghouse would be better equipped to assist parents whose children have recently been pre- or post-natally diagnosed. The bill also provides for the expansion and further development of national and local peer-support programs.  The bill also calls for the creation of a national registry of families willing to adopt children with pre- or post-natally diagnosed conditions.