[Prospective parents with a mental impairment: is prior competency testing in this group of people who wish to have children justified?] / Wensouders met een verstandelijke beperking.

Doctors can decide to subject individuals who wish to become parents to a test to analyse their parental competence. From a legal perspective there is no justification to subject only those individuals with a mental impairment to such a test. In fact, it could be argued that all potential parents should undergo such a test, but due to the impact this would have on the healthcare system that is simply not feasible.

De plantas y hombre: cómo los genetistas se vincularon a la eugenesia en Brasil (un estudio de caso 1929-1933) / Of plants and men: how geneticists were linked to eugenics in Brazil (1929-1933)

En el presente artículo pretendemos reflexionar sobre la trayectoria de Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) y Salvador Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), dos genetistas de una escuela agrícola del Estado de São Paulo que se vincularon al principal propagador de la eugenesia en Brasil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). Ese acercamiento se concretó en su asociación alrededor de la publicación del Boletim de Eugenia, importante vehículo de divulgación del movimiento eugenésico entre los años 1929 y 1933. A partir del análisis de esa publicación periódica, ha sido posible detectar que, aunque los dos partían de la teoría mendeliana de la herencia, Toledo Piza Jr. consideraba el mestizaje de la población brasileña como algo que iba en contra de la naturaleza, mientras que Octávio Domingues la juzgaba saludable (AU)

The aim of this article is to analyse the trajectory of Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) and Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), two geneticists in the Agricultural School of São Paulo State, who engaged with the main propagandist for the eugenics in Brazil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). This approach is embodied in its association surrounding the publication of the Boletim de Eugenia, an important vehicle for the dissemination of the eugenics movement between the years 1929 and 1933. From the analysis of this journal, it was possible to detect that even sharing both Mendelian theory of heredity, Toledo Piza Jr. considered miscegenation of the Brazilian population as something against nature, while Octávio Domingues judged it healthy (AU)

Genetic technologies and the regulation of reproductive decision-making in Australia.

This article provides a critical analysis of the current Australian regulatory landscape at the interface between genetics and reproductive decision-making. The authors argue that a comparative analysis with other countries and international law and a contextual examination of the way law regulates concepts such as disease and health, abnormality and normality is necessary before we can develop appropriate policy and legislative responses in this area. Specific genetic testing technologies are considered including prenatal genetic testing, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and inheritable genetic modification. An increasing number of members of the Australian community are using genetic testing technologies when they decide to have a baby. The authors argue that as concepts of disease and health vary among members of the community and the potential to test for traits other than illness increases, a new tension arises between an ethic of individual choice and a role for government in regulating reproductive decision-making.

[Prevention of congenital malformations by means of folic acid - insurmountable problems due to the German penal code and German drug legislation when preparing a preconceptional model in Saxony-Anhalt]. / Die Fehlbildungsprävention durch Folsäure - unlösbare Probleme mit Paragraph 20 SGB V und der Arzneimittelgesetzgebung bei der Vorbereitung eines perikonzeptionellen Modells in Sachsen-Anhalt1.

For the last 20 years the prophylactic effect of the vitamin folic acid against the occurrence of neural tube defects has been known but in Germany this fact has not been realized by the public. The recommendations by medical institutions fail, among other reasons, because a folic acid prescription by gynaecologists comes too late in the course of events, i.e., women go to the gynaecologist when pregnancy has already set in and it is too late for preventive measures. An effective folic acid prophylaxis must take place before the onset of pregnancy. Data from the regional surveillance of congenital anomalies of the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and interviews with women in maternity, as well as gynaecologists, indicate that there is a substantial knowledge deficit concerning folic acid prophylaxis. In 1998, therefore, a working group was set up in Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises representatives from interested institutions and has the goal of rectifying the knowledge deficit of women of childbearing age by way of a broad-based campaign while making use of the results of regional congenital anomalies monitoring. A pharmaceutical company was enlisted for cost-free distribution of its folic acid product. Legal problems with the prescription drug laws, the law against unfair competitive practices, the advertising of medicaments law and the SGB V (social code) made it impossible to procure multivitamins containing folic acid free of charge for women wanting a child. A highly differentiated legislation has hitherto prevented an elementary improvement in prevention.

China aims to improve health of newborn by law.

PIP: Effective June 1, 1995, China will have a new law covering aspects of maternal and infant health care. The controversial law provides for improvements in perinatal health care, but it also mandates a premarital physical examination for couples to determine if either person has a genetic or infectious disease or a mental disorder which would have an adverse effect on marriage and childbearing. Marriage must be postponed if any of the defined infectious diseases (including AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, and leprosy) or a mental disorder is detected. In cases of genetic diseases, the couple must agree to adopt longterm contraceptive measures or to become sterilized. When a serious genetic defect is uncovered during a pregnancy, physicians are to advise abortion. Whereas the law stipulates that consent must be obtained before an abortion or sterilization is performed, there is concern that the law will lead to forced sterilization. Also, medical experts are still trying to devise a list of "serious genetic disorders" in a social climate which has little tolerance for any type of disability. The new law forbids the use of prenatal testing to determine the sex of a fetus unless there are medical indications for such a determination. In some areas of China, selective abortion of female fetuses has resulted in a birth ratio of 131 boys to 100 girls.^ieng