Suit possible over baby DNA sent to military lab for national database

Posted on February 28, 2010 by | 1 Comment

State says blood specimens were sent for research that will help identify missing persons.

By Mary Ann RoserAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

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/* Published: 8:55 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, 2010

An Austin lawyer threatened to pursue a new federal lawsuit Monday after learning that some newborn blood samples in Texas went to the U.S. military for potential use in a database for law enforcement purposes.

The Department of State Health Services never mentioned the database to Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, who settled a lawsuit in December with the state over the indefinite storage of newborn blood without parental consent, or to the American-Statesman, which first reported on the little-known blood storage practice last spring. Harrington said he thought another suit was likely unless the health department destroys the information obtained from the blood samples or obtains consent.

“This is the worst case of bad faith I have dealt with as a lawyer,” he said Monday.

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This entry was posted in Bill of Rights, biometrics, Government Surveillance, Health, Privacy and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Suit possible over baby DNA sent to military lab for national database

  1. bellaliberta | February 28, 2010 at 2:56 PM |

    As a parent, I find this abhorrent. A home birth is not always an option for women, so they end up being subjected to the most grotesque forms of privacy invasion.

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