"In April 2012 I was intrigued to get an email from someone I had never met. He was Mike Sullivan from Whangarei. Since that fateful day, I have had literally dozens of emails from Mike. He is nothing if not tenacious! I admire what he has done to raise our collective awareness about the potential risks inherent in the Ministry of Health’s Antenatal Screening Programme for Down Syndrome and other conditions. Since first talking to Mike Sullivan, I attended a workshop on the screening programme hosted by the New Zealand College of Midwives and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. It was disconcerting to be told at the meeting that doctors would be obliged to be actively involved in the screening protocol should a pregnant woman present for care (ie arranging blood tests, nuchal scan and follow-up). Three doctors at the workshop spoke out against aspects of the programme including their opposition to the compulsory language in the information sheet for health professionals which stated that general practitioners and midwives were obliged to participate in antenatal testing. We explained to the workshop leaders that it was unlawful to compel doctors and midwives to arrange antenatal screening for Down syndrome and other conditions. To do so, would be to defy S174 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act especially in light of Justice Allan MacKenzie’s ruling in December 2010. I subsequently phoned the Manager of Antenatal and Newborn Screening in the National Screening Unit. She acknowledged that the printed material for midwives and doctors would be amended to reflect the law. She agreed that it cannot be compulsory for a maternity provider to personally arrange antenatal screening tests should the provider hold a conscientious objection to doing so. Amended screening guidelines were published in February 2013. They state that a patient seeking antenatal care must be advised of the screening programme for Down syndrome and other conditions. It is optional, not obligatory, for a pregnant women to participate in the screening programme." nzhpa.org/conscientious-objection-in-new-zealand-its-legal-status-and-significance/
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 20:59:21 +0000
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