In a wise move, seemingly to thwart America’s inevitable spiral into a science fiction thriller, lawmakers are poised to approve a law that would ban discrimination based on a person’s genes.
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act rightfully seeks to protect men and women who fear getting genetically tested for diseases because an employer could deny them a job or a health insurer could deny them coverage.
Many women who are offered genetic tests to gauge their risk of developing breast cancer decline because they fear they could be denied insurance coverage down the road, a trend that should be prevented.
Some are beginning to fear that one day our society could resemble that of the movie “Gattaca,” where people are divided into classes based on the quality of their genes ““ forcing parents to genetically modify their children to keep up.
Of course the law allows insurance providers the right to deny people based on the actual presence of a disease, but it seeks to make sure perfectly healthy people are not denied coverage based on their potential for disease.
The law also specifically states that employers cannot use a person’s genetic information in hiring, firing or promotion ““ just like race and gender.