The New Year provides an opportunity for reflection. As I look back at the past seven months since the inaugural launch of the Women’s Bioethics Project, I am pleased with what we have accomplished, humbled by your outpouring of support, and cognizant of the enormous challenges ahead as we move from being a small group of passionate volunteers to a full-fledged think tank.  

 

Over the past months, we’ve worked hard to increase WBP’s visibility, both to gain new supporters and to begin to increase awareness of the impact of bioethical issues on women’s lives. Our recent press release on the UNESCO International Bioethics Commission has been picked up by major news sites around the world and continues to spread. It’s great to be making progress on our public-awareness goals, and the fact that we are now coming under attack from extremely conservative groups proves that we are being heard. This is not unexpected and perhaps not a bad sign. Bioethical issues are highly politically charged (consider the stem-cell debate), there is a lot at stake (what does it mean to be a human being?), and those who are successful in framing public discourse and policy debate on these issues will—for better or worse—shape our future world. By taking a point of view, the Women’s Bioethics Project invites critical attention.  

In light of this, our bi-monthly status report will become a bit more circumspect. We will continue to inform our supporters about the think tank’s strategy, accomplishments, and opportunities for involvement; but we will not broadly publish the details of our plans and programs until they are publicly launched.
 
In the meantime, there are a few top-level activities that I’d like to share. Our newly appointed 22-member Advisory Board met for the first time at the beginning of December for a daylong strategy session. The board created the framework for the development of the five-year strategic plan. The plan will be completed by March 1st and will be presented to selected groups, foundations, and prospective strategic partners. Please contact me khinsch@womensbioethics.org directly if you would like to participate.
 
We have decided to focus on three issue areas: Neuro-ethics, women’s health, and reproductive technologies. Neuroscience is a burgeoning field; some say that it will displace genetics as the leading edge of scientific discoveries in the 21st century. With discoveries about how our brains work come significant ethical issues. As scientists move ever faster toward defining how the brain functions, we must be involved in determining how that information will be used, especially if there are significant gender differences. As we discover ways to enhance or eliminate certain behaviors or personality traits through pharmacological or genetic means, we must vigilant in helping to define the principles that will guide policy. Because this is such a new area of study, WBP has a huge opportunity to affect how ethical questions are asked, analyzed, and implemented in public policy.
 
Women’s health concerns have always been at the core of WBP’s work. Moving beyond narrow conceptions of women’s health, we will be focusing on issues such as aging, women’s participation in medical research, the impact of traditional care giving roles on women’s lives, and end-of-life decision making. We have a series of initiatives planned to help bring these issues to the attention of the media, increase women’s involvement, and impact public policy.
 
Reproductive technologies such as human germline modification (“designer babies”), social sex selection, preimplantation genetic testing, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) have profound implications for women and the future of the world. We will be closely monitoring these issues and ensuring women’s voices, life experiences, and priorities are heard on a national and international level.
 
We’ll let you know about specific projects, events, and research initiatives as we roll them out over the next couple of months. How can you help? At this critical stage, we need help with fundraising, research, and media relations. Please contact info@womensbioethics.org if you are willing to share your talents with us. Now is the time to get involved.