Most of us are familiar with the storied beginnings of various software
companies that were started by men in their garages. The Women's
Bioethics Project was started, appropriately enough, by a woman in her
kitchen.
I had just been granted a leave from my graduate studies at Harvard
Divinity School and was back in Seattle. During my course of study at
Harvard I realized that the world didn’t need another bioethicist, what
it needed was a way to get women’s underrepresented voices heard in
current bioethics debates. In studying bioethics and public policy, it
was quite obvious that women’s life experiences were not being taken
into account by the largely male population of lawmakers. Alone in my
kitchen, I cooked up the idea of a think tank focused keenly on women
and bioethics. It was one of those pivotal and defining moments.
I needed a reality check, so I contacted Dr. Kelly Fryer-Edwards, a
professor at the UW School of Medicine who I had met the summer before
during my internship there. I asked Kelly if she would be willing to
meet to discuss a wild idea. She was game.
We began to hold a series of dinners with Seattle-area scholars to
discuss what this think tank could become. Over Thai food and beer,
quiche and wine, we debated approaches, structures, issues, and
funding. Week by week we went from a blank piece of paper to paragraphs
to a framework. Before we knew it we had a strategic plan, and
ultimately, a business plan. I thought my time at Microsoft had
prepared me for intense debate, but these scholars pulled no punches.
It was arduous yet scintillating work.
Finally, last October, we felt confident that we had a workable plan.
At that point Kelly and I decided it was time to make a pilgrimage to
the birthplace of bioethics: The Hastings Center. Kelly arrived in
upstate New York by train; I arrived by car with a malfunctioning GPS.
We had an appointment to review our plan with the scholars at the
Hastings Center, which became an exciting and turbulent day of intense
feedback. That night Dr. Thomas Murray, President of The Hastings
Center, and his wife Cynthia, took us to dinner. Over pasta and wine,
Tom gave use wise counsel and pledged his support. The evening ended
with hugs all around. The Women’s Bioethics Project had been born.
Kelly and I returned to Seattle with the formidable task of actually
implementing the plan. We have worked hard and accomplished a lot since
that autumn day in New York, more than we ever dreamed, really. I’d
like to commemorate it by thanking the scholars who spent many hours
building the Women’s Bioethics Project. They only asked for one thing:
if the think tank became as successful as we all dreamed it would be,
that I promise not to be seduced by the lure of media-grabbing issues
like cloning but instead remember the bioethics issues like poverty,
access to health care, and looking after children and the elderly that
truly affect women’s lives. It is a promise I intend to keep.
Kathryn Hinsch
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Seattle University
Co-founder, Ceptyr
Assistant Professor, Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington School of Medicine
Women's Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Washington
Assistant Professor, Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Washington
Associate Professor and Chair of Religious and Social Ethics, University of Puget Sound
Harborview Medical Center
University of Washington Medical Center
University of Washington, School of Medicine
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