"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."
Full details of the report can be found at under "God's Bioethics" at www.womensbioethics.org.
The Women's Bioethics Project is the first non-profit, non-partisan public policy think tank 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
Web site: http://www.womensbioethics.org