Abortion and DNA Tests for Autism

From Technology Review: "A specific structural variation on chromosome 16 dramatically boosts the risk of autism, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine."

"91–93% of pregnancies with a diagnosis of Down syndrome" are terminated. It won't be long before prenatal tests for autism cause some women to have abortions. And these abortion decisions might be misguided because the average American, I suspect, greatly underestimates the quality of life of autistics. Someone should write an easy to understand book about autism directed at parents considering whether to abort a baby who will probably be autistic. Multiple copies of this book could then be given to genetic counselors in the hopes that they would give the book to parents in need.