(AmericanProsperity.com) – The Institute for Justice (IJ) filed a lawsuit over a New Jersey state program that has been secretly retaining and obtaining blood from newborns. The nonprofit law firm pointed out it’s currently representing numerous New Jersey parents in the case.
In its lawsuit, the IJ claimed that the state is using the DNA from babies anytime it wants without any informed consent from their parents. It added that while state law in New Jersey demands blood to be taken from babies when they are born to test for some diseases, the program keeps the “leftover blood” for 23 years after the testing is over.
The nonprofit also explained in the lawsuit that the state doesn’t even inform the parents that it will hold the residual blood for years. The IJ noted that the only way parents can know about these retentions is by “proactively” searching on one of the third-party online pages that are mentioned at the end of the card they are given when the blood draw is finished.
The IJ pointed out that when the state has the blood, it can even sell it to third parties and give it to police authorities without any warrant. The legal team also said that the state sometimes sells the blood to the Pentagon to create a registry, as it “previously happened” in Texas.
In a statement, IJ lawyer Rob Frommer said that all parents have the right to informed consent in case the state wants to maintain the blood of their children for many years and use it for different purposes. He added that New Jersey’s policy of storing DNA and blood from babies and using them in any way it wants is a violation of New Jersey newborns and parents’ Fourth Amendment rights.
According to different reports, similar lawsuits have been brought to the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas over the last few months. In each of those cases, settlements have ordered the elimination of blood samples held by the states.
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