Prenatal Tests Can Be Risky and Unregulated

Common prenatal screening tests are often much less accurate than advertised. Due to regulatory loopholes, there is a lack of federal oversight to ensure that prenatal screening is accurate and that claims are evidence-based. This lack of oversight leads to dire consequences for many pregnant people each year who receive–and act on–inaccurate or downright false information about their pregnancies.

The stakes for families are increasing. Upwards of half of all pregnant people now receive one of these prenatal screenings. And with many states banning abortions or limiting them to early in pregnancies, the need for fast, accurate information has become more urgent.

SOURCE: ProPublica • AUTHOR: Anna Clark, Adriana Gallardo, Jenny Deam, and Mariam Elba • LAST UPDATED: December 6, 2022