As soon as I read this new bill, I immediately thought of Gattaca and the scary road we might be heading down. New Scientist is reporting that the House of Representatives has introduced a bill, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), to outlaw genetic discrimination in the United States. Though President Bush has said he would sign the bill into law if it were to reach his desk, it has been stalled in the Senate by Tom Coburn by a congressional hold, due to his anti-abortion stance.

Senator Coburn held up similar legislation from Edward Kennedy over objections in language concerning embryos and fetuses. The House bill closed those loopholes, yet Coburn is still looking for ways to change the bill more to his liking. The new bill was passed overwhelmingly, by a vote of 420 to 3, and Senator Coburn should acknowledge that his concerns have been addressed and allow the Senate to vote on the matter.

Opponents of genetic discrimination laws include some insurers and free-market purists, who have suggested that actual incidents of genetic discrimination — of people being fired because they are thought to carry the gene for Huntington’s, for instance — are few and far between. But the dearth of cases so far gives Congress all the more reason to act now. Promising medical technologies tend to become commonplace. Lawmakers will have an easier time shaping the way insurers and employers use such test results while the technology is still taking hold than when genetic tests become routine.

This is actually a good bill that should be passed into law. We already see that insurance companies can discriminate against some policy holders, such as tobacco users, because the diseases caused by such users could be prevented. This bill would prevent discrimination based genetic predisposition. What this means is that insurance providers would not be allowed to deny or charge higher premiums because you might have a gene that might, one day, surface or might not ever become active.

Now, before you start thinking, “why should I pay for someone who has a genetic predisposition to some awful disease?” remember that you do not even know what your genes might turn up later on in your life.  You, too, could be denied insurance or work.

One large case to consider is sickle-cell anemia. Is it really fair to discriminate against every single black person in America just because they may, at some point in their lives, contract the disease? It is highly unfair to penalize someone for something that they, literally, have no control over.

Who then, will decide if the mentally retarded person or the child who is genetically predisposed to homicide is the greater risk to society? Why should we allow either to be denied insurance or employment based on some arbitrary criteria created by the insurance industry?  Besides the insurances aspect of the law, there is also an employment section.

While some employers can, and do, discriminate on certain diseases, these are most often related to specific jobs. Such a job would be testing individuals to see if they could withstand the rigors of being an astronaut. Another would be an airline pilot being denied a job because of epilepsy. For many years, we banned Americans from driving if they had epilepsy because of the high risk and danger to other Americans. Today, however, many states allow epileptics to drive, providing that they have had a certain period of time with no seizures.

In these cases, the denial of a particular line of work is due solely to the safety of the individual and the potential dangers inherent with the disease.  However, it did not prevent them from doing the many jobs people without the disease performed.

Imagine a world where Stephen Hawking could never have been given a job due to his condition or being forced to live a life in the world of Gattaca.

“Of course, it’s illegal to discriminate, “genoism” it’s called, but no one takes the law seriously. If you refuse to disclose they can always take a sample from a door handle or a handshake, even the saliva on your application form. If in doubt a legal drug test can just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company.” – Gattaca

If passed, this law may, ultimately, end up being deemed unconstitutional under the US Constitution (Article I, Section 8). It is yet to be seen if there will be any public or corporate backlash.

Your genetic information should never be released to insurance companies or employers. There are far too many gray areas involved in reading an individual’s genetic makeup. Chance will always interfere with the plans of insurance companies and employers. We should not be forced to give up our genetic makeup on the chance that something might happen.

No one is perfect and no one can predict what genetic predispositions will or will not appear later in life. Once we begin down the slippery slope of allowing genetic discrimination, more and more genetic conditions, such as brown eyes or wearing glasses, could prove to be the reason why you may not get a job or insurance coverage. It may seem like wild speculation now, but we know that companies are always looking for ways to cut costs by kicking you to the curb to save a few dollars and it is not beyond their reach.