江苏省高三时事英语阅读.docVIP

选校网 高考频道 专业大全 历年分数线 上万张大学图片 大学视频 院校库 江苏省高三时事英语阅读 (A) The United States Senate has unanimously passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of peoples genetic details. The proposal, which passed 95-0, still needs approval from the House of Representatives before it becomes law. It would allow only patients and their doctors to access data obtained through genetic testing. Employers, unions and health insurance companies would be forbidden from discrimination via genetic information. The Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy called it the the first new civil rights bill of the new century. He added: Discrimination based on a persons genetic identity is just as unacceptable as discrimination on the basis of race or religion. The bill would forbid health insurers from refusing coverage, or raising premiums, for healthy people based on genetic information. Insurers would also not be allowed to require people to take tests which might show a predisposition to a disease. And employers would be prohibited from using genetic information in decisions over hiring, firing, promoting or compensating employees. The bill is supported by the White House and by health insurers, but opposed by some business interests, including the US Chamber of Commerce. Scientists hope the legislation will encourage more people to come forward and take genetic tests that might save their lives. Such tests can lead to therapy for a wide range of diseases with hereditary links, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. With the mapping of the human genome in 2003, far more information is available about peoples disposition to illnesses. The Republican sponsor of the bill, Senator Olympia Snowe, said that for the first time steps were being taken to prevent discrimination before it has taken hold. Thats why this legislation is unique and groundbreaking, she added. The genetic tests currently available were absolutely useless, she said, if people were not taking them for fear of