Table 1

Research ethics committee members were asked to indicate their opinion of each scenario on a scale of 1 (totally ethical) to 5 (totally unethical)

			Ethical?
Block	Q	Scenario description	Yes	??	No
Full questions are available on JCP website (http://jcp.bmjjournals.com/supplemental/).
A	1	Screen for a serious condition (Down’s syndrome). No risk to unaffected fetus	43	11	21
	2	Screen for a serious condition: 1 unaffected fetus spontaneously aborted for every 2 affected fetuses diagnosed	6	10	60
	3	Screen for a serious condition: 2 unaffected fetuses spontaneously aborted for every 1 affected fetus diagnosed	5	2	69
B	4	Screen for red hair and freckles	5	3	68
	5	Screen for a life threatening condition to allow surgery/neonatal intensive care when the baby is born	73	2	2
C	6	Screen for reduction in life expectancy by 10 years	4	7	66
	7	Screen for reduction in life expectancy by 10 years—will need drug treatment	9	7	61
D	8	Screen for reduction in life expectancy by 50 years	20	18	39
	9	Screen for reduction in life expectancy by 50 years: a cure is likely in the next 15 years	16	18	43
E	10	Screen for slight lowering of education potential	2	3	72
	11	Screen for moderate lowering of education potential	1	6	70
	12	Screen for severe lowering of education potential	5	11	61
F	13	Screen for severe lowering of education potential; 10% may have severe heart defect; others have life expectancy reduced by 10 years (Down’s clinical description). Only affected identified	7	27	43
	14	As 13 above but the screening test identifies 60% of affected and 5% of unaffected pregnancies: no risk to unaffected	14	19	43
	15	Screen for Down’s clinical description: 1 unaffected fetus spontaneously aborted for every 2 affected fetuses diagnosed	4	7	66
	16	Screen for a Down’s clinical description: 2 unaffected fetuses spontaneously aborted for every 1 affected fetus diagnosed	3	1	73
G	17	A screening test similar to 15 above is in existence. Do extra lab test. Each extra case detected costs £5000	10	11	54
	18	As 17 above but the cost/extra case detected is £100 000	6	10	58
	19	Add directive counselling to screening programme	11	11	54