{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T05:02:43Z","timestamp":1782795763911,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"American Public Health Association","issue":"11","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Am J Public Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1999,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> Bioethical standards and counseling techniques that regulate prenatal diagnosis in the United States were developed at a time when the principal constituency for fetal testing was a self-selected group of White, well-informed, middle-class women. The routine use of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) testing, which has become widespread since the mid-1980s, introduced new constituencies to prenatal diagnosis. These new constituencies include ethnic minority women, who, with the exception of women from certain Asian groups, refuse amniocentesis at significantly higher rates than others. This study examines the considerations taken into account by a group of Mexican-origin women who had screened positive for AFP and were deciding whether to undergo amniocentesis. We reviewed 379 charts and interviewed 147 women and 120 partners to test a number of factors that might explain why some women accept amniocentesis and some refuse. A woman's attitudes toward doctors, medicine, and prenatal care and her assessment of the risk and uncertainty associated with the procedure were found to be most significant. Case summaries demonstrate the indeterminacy of the decision-making process. We concluded that established bioethical principles and counseling techniques need to be more sensitive to the way ethnic minority clients make their amniocentesis choices. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2105\/ajph.89.11.1658","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,29]],"date-time":"2008-11-29T13:33:29Z","timestamp":1227965609000},"page":"1658-1666","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":55,"title":["Ethnicity, bioethics, and prenatal diagnosis: the amniocentesis decisions of Mexican-origin women and their partners."],"prefix":"10.2105","volume":"89","author":[{"given":"C H","family":"Browner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"H M","family":"Preloran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S J","family":"Cox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"844","reference":[{"key":"p_1","unstructured":"Caplan AL. Foreword. In: Kolker A, Burke BM. Prenatal Testing: A Sociological Perspective. Westport, Conn: Bergin & Garvey; 1994:xmii-xvii."},{"key":"p_2","unstructured":"Harper PS. Practical Genetic Counseling. 4th ed. Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1993."},{"key":"p_3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00003081-199309000-00012"},{"key":"p_4","unstructured":"Kolker A, Burke BM. Prenatal Testing: A Sociological Perspective. Westport, Conn: Bergin & Garvey; 1994."},{"key":"p_5","unstructured":"Professional liability implications of AFP tests. In: DPLAlert. Washington, DC: Dept of Professional Liability, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; May 1985."},{"key":"p_6","unstructured":"Rothenberg KH, Thomson EJ, eds. Women and Prenatal Testing: Facing the Challenges of Genetic Technology. Columbus: Ohio State University Press; 1994."},{"key":"p_7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000263879"},{"key":"p_8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1096-8628(19980806)78:5<433::AID-AJMG8>3.0.CO;2-M"},{"key":"p_9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000263877"},{"key":"p_10","unstructured":"Cunningham GC. An Evaluation of Californias Public-Private Maternal Serum Screening Program. Paper presented at: Ninth International Conference on Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy; June 11, 1998; Los Angeles, Calif."},{"key":"p_11","unstructured":"Rothman BK. Beyond \"Choice \": Toward Procreative Ethics for the Millennium. New York, NY: The Ford Foundation; nd."},{"key":"p_12","unstructured":"Rothman BK. The Tentative Pregnancy: Prenatal Diagnosis and the Future of Motherhood. New York, NY: Viking; 1987."},{"key":"p_13","unstructured":"Vital Statistics of California, 1994. Sacramento: California Department of Health Services; 1995."},{"key":"p_14","unstructured":"Stierman L. Birth Defects in California: 1983-1990. Emeryville: California Birth Defects Monitoring Program; 1994."},{"key":"p_15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0002-9378(85)90428-4"},{"key":"p_16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0002-9378(87)90014-7"},{"key":"p_17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ajmg.1320310129"},{"key":"p_18","unstructured":"Patton MQ. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publications; 1990."},{"key":"p_20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/07399863870092005"},{"key":"p_21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/00027649921954930"},{"key":"p_22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1300\/J013v13n01_09"}],"container-title":["American Journal of Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ajph.aphapublications.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.2105\/AJPH.89.11.1658","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,9]],"date-time":"2022-05-09T19:54:36Z","timestamp":1652126076000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ajph.aphapublications.org\/doi\/full\/10.2105\/AJPH.89.11.1658"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1999,11]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-print":{"date-parts":[[1999,11]]}},"alternative-id":["10.2105\/AJPH.89.11.1658"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2105\/ajph.89.11.1658","relation":{},"ISSN":["0090-0036","1541-0048"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0090-0036","type":"print"},{"value":"1541-0048","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1999,11]]}}}