Advocacy for federal and professional policies that are associated with genetic discrimination

[Your Full Name]

[Your Address]

[City, State, ZIP Code]

[Email Address]

21/3/2025

[Legislator’s Name]

Minnesota State Legislature

95 University Ave W

Saint Paul, MN 55155

Subject: Advocacy for Comprehensive Protections Against Genetic Discrimination: Advocacy for federal and professional policies that are associated with genetic discrimination.

Dear [Legislator’s Name],

I am writing as both a member of the American Nurses Association and as your constituent to push for more effective legal and professional frameworks to defend people from genetic discrimination. This is of special concern at this time when genetic data is becoming central to healthcare decisions and opportunities more personal in nature.

Genetic discrimination is the unfair treatment of an individual because of information regarding their genetic pre-existing conditions. Take, for instance, Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a disease that results from the mutation of the CFTR gene. It affects one’s lungs and their digestive systems and requires a lot of medical attention. While people with CF or those who are CF carriers are very strong, they tend to suffer from discrimination with respect to employment and health insurance because of the myths and irrational fears surrounding the cost of healthcare (Chapman et al., 2020).

GINA, the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, is one step in the right direction, although it does little to cover life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care policies. The act protects individuals from discrimination in health insurance and employment. At the state level, Minnesota has passed some laws dealing with genetic information discrimination and privacy, but these laws need to be strengthened and broadened in scope because they do not address the areas of policy insufficient to protect families (Joly et al., 2021).

In addition to this, the American Nurses Association (ANA) mentions the need to tackle Gaps and inclusivity issues that empower patients to receive appropriate care and opportunities. This nurses’ representative association policy statement revolves around ‘advocacy’ as the central theme, whereas professional nursing policies expect the nurse to deprescribe bias among healthcare delivery service providers at the genomic level. The nurses serve a distinctive role being ethical advocates for disenfranchised people by safeguarding the rights of the patient (Wang & Liang, 2024).

It is imperative that policies expanding the scope of GINA are advocated and that legislation stemming from Minnesota is broad enough to prohibit discrimination based on any health insurance. These steps would mitigate systemic disadvantages and help create a more equitable and just healthcare system.

I am grateful for your commitment to advancing health policy in Minnesota, and I would be pleased to hear from you. Thank you for considering this important matter.

Sincerely, [Your Full Name]

References

Chapman, C. R., Mehta, K. S., Parent, B., & Caplan, A. L. (2020). Genetic discrimination: Emerging ethical challenges in the context of advancing technology. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 7(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsz016

Joly, Y., Huerne, K., Arych, M., Bombard, Y., & Dove, E. (2021). Confronting new issues in genetic discrimination. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3920622

Wang, L., & Liang, X. (2024). AI-accelerated human genetic discrimination: Implications of UNGPs. Current Genetic Medicine Reports, 11(3–4), 9–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40142-023-00208-1

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Competency

• Differentiate the legal and professional policies influencing healthcare decisions.

Student Success Criteria

• View the grading rubric for this deliverable by selecting the “Grading rubric” in the right menu.

Scenario

• You recently joined the American Nurses Association and volunteered to serve on a committee focused on health policy issues. A policy topic of concern for this committee is genetic discrimination. You offered to write a letter to your national legislator in your voting district addressing legal and professional policies associated with genetic discrimination.
  

  Advocacy for federal and professional policies that are associated with genetic discrimination

Instructions
Write a professional letter to your legislator in Minnesota demonstrating advocacy for legal and professional policies that protect individuals from genetic discrimination.
In this letter, include the following information:

• Describe the concern for genetic discrimination, including a background of the genetic condition – Cystic Fibrosis- and the specific issue at risk for discrimination
• Compare current federal and state policies (legislation) that impact genetic or genomic issues
• Analyze professional nursing policies that address ethical advocacy for the selected genetic or genomic issue
• All content must be supported by providing rationales, examples and evidence from credible sources

Assessment Requirements/Submission Requirement:
Professional Letter