The Public deliberation

Deliberation is weighing the costs and consequences of a variety of possible actions. Deliberation does not result in absolute agreement, but it can reveal the general direction in which people want to move, the range of approaches to a problem that would be acceptable, and what people are or are not willing to do to solve a problem.

Members of the public were asked to consider the 4 approaches to pre-birth testing that were developed in the framing stage and work with people from diverse backgrounds towards collective recommendations for action.

The booklet, Who Gets Born? Pre-birth Testing Choicebook, was used as a framework to assist people deliberate together.

There were two ways to take part:

1. using a deliberation website. The website used Ascentum’s Dialoguecircles.com platform.
2. at one of the following deliberative events.

The Council also held specific deliberative events for Maori and for the Pacific Island community.

To find out about the website and the content that was created, see:

• Report about pre-birth testing on-line deliberation website and analysis and evaluation of the on-line choicebook
• Stories and ideas about pre-birth testing submitted to the Council
• Transcripts of pre-birth testing on-line deliberation groups