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Essay about Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women

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Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women

During the past decade, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has become a leading cause of mortality among women. This population is now accounting for the most rapid increase in cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in recent years. As the numbers of cases of HIV infection have increased among women, particularly of childbearing age, increasing numbers of children have become infected as well. "Various studies conducted to date indicate that between 1/4 and 1/3 of infants born worldwide to women infected with HIV have become infected with the virus themselves" (HIV InSite, 1997). This is due to the route of transmission known as vertical transmission, from mother to infant. …show more content…

These proposals suggest that every woman seeking prenatal care—whether it be in a gynecologist's office, a health clinic, the hospital, etc.—should be tested for HIV. This testing should be done whether the woman agrees or not, and if she refuses, prenatal care would be withheld. The rationale behind such a proposal is that if HIV testing is mandated, all pregnant women will have to be tested in order to receive prenatal care. Those who are HIV positive would be treated with drugs that will decrease the likelihood of vertical transmission. Thus, through mandatory testing, the instances of vertical transmission would decrease.

Since mandatory testing of pregnant women infringes on the woman's liberty and her right of privacy, the issue, is whether or not such a program is ethically justifiable, despite these infringements. In order to examine mandatory testing of pregnant women as a potentially effective way to reduce vertical transmission, I plan to analyze this proposal using the five criteria Childress proposes in his article, "Mandatory HIV Screening and Testing," criteria that, he explains, must be met in order to justify infringement of a person's rights when conducting mandatory testing. These five criteria are effectiveness, proportionality, necessity, least infringement, and explanation and justification to the patient. (Childress, 53) The first three must be met in order to justify infringement at all. The last two that

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