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Women’s Bioethics Project Report Reveals Conservative Fundamentalist Dominance over Bioethical Debates
SEATTLE, WA, November 10, 2005: The Women’s Bioethics Project, a
non-partisan, public policy think tank, announced today the release of
a report detailing a concerted effort by conservative groups to
dominate so-called “bioethical issues” surrounding emerging
technologies. The report, titled “Bioethics and Public Policy:
Conservative Dominance in the Current Landscape,” analyzes the
involvement of both progressive and conservative bioethics centers,
including traditional think tanks such as the American Enterprise
Institute, as well as religious groups such as James Dobson’s Focus on
the Family.
“The rapid advance of biotechnology is quickly outpacing our ability as
a society to absorb the effect it will have on our lives,” said Kathryn
Hinsch, founder of the Women’s Bioethics Project and author of the
report, “The institutions we have relied on for guidance on difficult
moral issues—whether organized religion, government, or the
academy—have failed to keep pace with science or societal implications
underlying these issues. Because of this confusion, disarray, and
public policy flux, the opportunity to influence the direction of
public opinion is up for grabs. Essentially, whoever gets there first
will frame the debate on these issues and will affect us all for
decades to come.”
To date, only extremely conservative and overtly religious groups have
devoted substantial resources to pushing a broad bioethics agenda.
“Bioethical issues ranging from stem cell research to the Terri Schiavo
case are the battlefield for defining the kind of world we want to
create,” said Jonathan Moreno, bioethicist and senior fellow at the
Center for American Progress. “The Women’s Bioethics Project analysis
is an important wake-up call to people who care about scientific
progress and the ability to decide what is right for their own
families. The time to engage in these issues is now.”
The Women’s Bioethics Project is the leading organization of its kind
dedicated to ensuring that women’s voices, health concerns, and life
experiences are brought to bear on ethical issues in health care and
biotechnology.
Women’s Bioethics Project
WEBSITE: http://www.womensbioethics.org
CONTACT: Kathryn Hinsch at 206-200-1101 or email info@womensbioethics.org.
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