No one questioned it or raised as much as an eyebrow. The newscaster was dead-pan when he read it from his autocue.
The fact that it sounds the death knell for thousands and that the result will be indiscriminate massacre passed completely without comment. And by one of those grim ironies which few seem to notice, the source of this horrific policy is a government-sponsored body called N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Clinical Excellence)! Oh, and in case you were wondering in which country this could happen, it's yours - the United Kingdom.
For many years pregnant women who were thought to be 'at risk' have been offered a test to ascertain whether or not the baby they are carrying has Down's Syndrome. The test was not foolproof and carried some possibility of causing a miscarriage. More recently a safer and more reliable test has been developed which could be made more widely available. Such a test may now be offered, presumably as part of the ante-natal package, to all expectant mothers.
