A NEW Presidential Commission on Bioethics. We Christen Thee, Pucks-Bee. Let God Be Praised.
We all have a great deal to be thankful this Thanksgiving, and now we have one more thing to add to our list: another presidential bioethics commission. President Obama has made good on the implicit and then explicit promise to put bioethics not only into the White House but the Executive branch more generally. PCSBI. The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Known by any other name (or acronym), it's simply too much of a mouthful.
Apart from the Chair, Amy Gutmann, bioethicist and president of the University of Pennsylvania, and Vice Chair, James Wagner, Emory University's widely praised president, the membership of the commission remains a mystery, the sort of thing bioethicists like me wager about. Doubtless Robert George and William Hurlbut won't be on anyone's short list this time around, but they will have plenty to carp about in The New Atlantis.
Summer Johnson, PhD
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Ticky-tacky, Summer. Why wouldn't men like Peligrino or George be on the Commission?
And, why praise God?
- by B Nuckools on Nov 28, 2009 at 8:57 AM | link
Thank you for your comment. First, I never suggested that Edmund Pellegrino could not be on a future presidential bioethics commission, but given that he was just the chair of the previous one--I'd say it's rather unlikely.
As for Robbie George and Bill Hurlbut, I can't name two more unlikely scholars to help fulfill the President's stated goals for the commission to "develop its recommendations through practical and policy-related analyses". If anyone should doubt this claim, read Dr. George's recent interview in US News and World Report, http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/04/03/robert-george-answers-doug-kmiecs-questions-on-life-issues.html
As for Bill Hurlbut, do I really have to say anything? I'm fairly confident that there are more than 25 entries in this blog alone on Hurlbut's tenure in the previous presidential commission any of which speak for themselves.
As for praising God, it's a Monty Python reference. For a good laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ&feature=fvw.
Summer Johnson, PhD
- by Summer Johnson, PhD on Nov 28, 2009 at 12:37 PM | link
Admittedly Hurlbrts idea are far-fetched and hardly going to end the debate regarding Stem Cell Research from Pro-Life Advocates. But George seems like your run of the mill Pro-Life advocate (and thusly slightly conservative) and I'm confused why that alone should exclude him and people like him.
The fact of the matter is as long as there are people who hold religious basises for their moral thinking I'm not sure "practical and policy-related analyses" are going to completely solve all our problems. What it will do is give an illusion of weak consensus, when in reality the country is much more divided than that. The question really is at what level is it OK to ignore those who disagree with you? If they're less than 50%? 30? 20? People like George may not represent the majority, but we should ask if they represent a significant enough minority to have their voices listened to, especially since a part of their tax dollars will inevitably support whatever the reccomendaitons suggest. Granted this may slow down "progress" (which of course is always defined by the political agenda of those in power at that time). But in the long run I personally believe its a good thing. After all, if bioethics isn't about discourse, and attempting to find our areas of agreement in a diverse pluralistic society, what is it about?
- by tsrblke on Nov 30, 2009 at 4:08 PM | link
Dr. George responds, "We should resolve our national debate about the moral status of the human embryo and the ethical legitimacy of embryo-destructive biomedical research and its public funding on the basis of the best available scientific evidence as to when the life of a new human being begins, and our national commitment to the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every member of the human family. The question of when the life of a human individual begins is a scientific one, and the science is clear enough."
How is that not practical?
Robert at bioethike.com
- by Robert on Nov 30, 2009 at 8:26 PM | link
Joseph J. Fins, M.D. of Cornell definitely
should be appointed - expert in the field, greatly respected.experienced..astute.. wise..great integrity. ..collegial..a commission that lacks him will be missing something.
- by Kathleen Burke on Dec 2, 2009 at 1:05 AM | link