Etkind v. Suarez , 271 Ga. 352 ( 1999 )

Fletcher, Presiding Justice,

concurring.

In Atlanta Obstetrics & Gynecology Group P.A. v. Abelson, this Court held that a claim for “wrongful birth” did not fit within the traditional confines of tort law and, in view of the complex policy issues raised by such a claim, we deferred to the legislature rather than create a new cause of action.¹ The policy reasons for deferring to the legislature have become only stronger since we decided Abelson. The same year we decided Abelson, the United States Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health launched the Human Genome Project to identify and map all the genes comprising the human DNA.² Through this and other research efforts, scientists will no doubt add to the more than 450 clinical tests for genetic disorders.³ Increased availability of prenatal testing for a wide variety of diseases and conditions raises complex societal and ethical issues. I remain committed to the view I expressed in Abelson that the courts are ill-equipped to resolve these issues through the expansion of tort liability.

I am authorized to state that Justice Sears joins in this concurrence.

1 260 Ga. 711 (398 SE2d 557) (1990).

2 See Ari Patrinos & Daniel W. Drell, Introducing the Human Genome Project: Its Relevance, Triumphs, and Challenges, ABA Judge’s Journal, summer 1997. Information about the human genome project, including portions of the ABA Judge’s Journal, is available on the Internet, Human Genome Project Information, <<http:/www.ornl.gov/TechResources/ Human_Genome/home.html».

3 Robert Sikorski & Richard Peters, Genomic Medicine, 278 JAMA 1212 (1997). Available on the Internet at «http:/www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/joumals/archive/jama/vol_278/ no_15/jjn71002.htm>>.