<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<section article="ghg" article_name="Health - General" number="13-102" title_number="13" title_name="Miscellaneous Health Care Programs" subtitle_number="1" subtitle_name="Hereditary and Congenital Disorders Programs">
  <text>The General Assembly finds that:</text>
  <level label="1">
    <text>Everyone in this State is entitled to the highest level of health care attainable and protection from inadequate health services;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="2">
    <text>Hereditary and congenital disorders are often costly and tragic and sometimes deadly burdens to the health and well-being of the citizens of this State;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="3">
    <text>Detection through screening for hereditary and congenital disorders can:</text>
    <level label="i">
      <text>Lead to alleviation of the disability of some hereditary and congenital disorders; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="ii">
      <text>Further the understanding of and accumulation of medical knowledge about other hereditary and congenital disorders that may lead to their eventual alleviation or cure;</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="4">
    <text>Hereditary and congenital disorders differ in severity, in that:</text>
    <level label="i">
      <text>Some have little effect on the normal functioning of an individual; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="ii">
      <text>Some may be alleviated, wholly or partly, through medical intervention and treatment;</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="5">
    <text>Most, if not all, individuals are carriers of some hereditary disorder and are substantially unaffected by that fact;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="6">
    <text>A carrier of a hereditary disorder should not be discriminated against or stigmatized;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="7">
    <text>Medical knowledge of the discovery, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of hereditary and congenital disorders is expanding rapidly and often at an uneven rate, so that hereditary and congenital disorders are discovered long before their treatment or cure can be found;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="8">
    <text>Legislation designed to alleviate the problems associated with specific hereditary and congenital disorders may tend to be inflexible in the face of rapidly expanding medical knowledge;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="9">
    <text>The policy of this State on hereditary and congenital disorders should be:</text>
    <level label="i">
      <text>Made with full public knowledge, in light of expert opinion; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="ii">
      <text>Reviewed constantly to consider changing medical knowledge and ensure full public protection;</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="10">
    <text>Participation in a hereditary and congenital disorders program should be wholly voluntary, and all information obtained about any individual in a hereditary and congenital disorders program should be kept confidential; and</text>
  </level>
  <level label="11">
    <text>A commission is needed:</text>
    <level label="i">
      <text>To ensure that the policies and programs of this State for hereditary and congenital disorders comply with the principles established in this subtitle; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="ii">
      <text>To preserve and protect the freedom, health, and well-being of the citizens of this State from improper treatment or advice, discrimination, violation of privacy, or undue anxiety that results from any hereditary and congenital disorders program.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
