WASHINGTON – The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has approved a bill introduced by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would prohibit genetic discrimination by health insurers and employers.

Kennedy, chairman of the HELP Committee, called the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) "the first civil rights bill of the new century of life sciences" and said it would encourage people to use genetic testing without fear of repercussions.

The bill opens "a new frontier in medicine" where knowing a patient's genetic makeup can improve care, he said. "This legislation opens to door to modern medical progress for millions and millions of Americans. It means that people whose genetic profiles put them at risk of cancer and other serious conditions can get tested and seek treatment without fear of losing their privacy, their jobs and their health insurance."

With the human genome only recently unraveled by scientists, Enzi said the bill would encourage genetic testing by establishing basic protections from the beginning.

"We are far better off setting uniform, consistent rules of the road clearly and up front, rather than allowing them to be set piecemeal through litigation," he said.