Press Release
Women’s Bioethics Project Announces East Coast Advisory BoardSEATTLE, WA, February 20, 2006: The Women’s
Bioethics Project (WBP) today announced that it has established an East
Coast Advisory Board, which has attracted some of the most prestigious
and respected leaders in the fields of bioethics, medicine and
reproductive rights. The advisory board will provide guidance and
strategic direction to the WBP as it continues in its mission to serve
as a bridge between scholarship and policy-making, ensuring that
women’s voices, health concerns and unique life experiences are brought
to bear on ethical issues related to health care and biotechnology.
The members of the newly formed WBP East Coast Advisory Board include the following:
- R. Alta Charo, J.D. visiting professor of law, University of California, Berkeley; Knowles Professor of Law & Bioethics, University of Wisconsin Law and Medical Schools
- Nancy Aronson Chilton public relations consultant; Council of Advocates, Planned Parenthood of New York City
- Katie Danziger chair, board development, Planned Parenthood of New York City
- Robin N. Fiore, Ph.D. Adelaide R. Snyder Professor of Ethics, Florida Atlantic University
- Maureen Jerome corporate manager, art historian, principal ARTLIFEdesign, LLC
- Frances Kissling president, Catholics for a Free Choice
- Hilde Lindemann, Ph.D. associate professor of philosophy, Michigan State University
- Linda MacDonald Glenn, J.D., LLM Associate Adjunct Professor, University of Vermont, lawyer, and consultant
- Mary Mahowald, Ph.D. professor emerita, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago; MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
- Jonathan Moreno, Ph.D. senior fellow, Center for American Progress; Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Professor of Biomedical Ethics; director, Center for Biomedical Ethics, University of Virginia
- Laura Philips, Ph.D., MBA chief operating officer, NexGenix Pharmaceuticals
- Rosemarie Tong, Ph.D. distinguished professor of Health Care Ethics in the Department of Philosophy; director, Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
- Leslie R. Wolfe, Ph.D. president, Center for Women Policy Studies
As the WBP highlighted in a recently released white paper titled “Bioethics and Public Policy: Conservative Dominance in the Current Landscape,” a majority of well-established conservative think tanks in the United States, which have traditionally focused on broad economic, social and foreign policy issues, have in recent years added bioethics to their political agendas.
“Many of these conservative think tanks are groups that have not consistently concerned themselves with the best interests of women,” said Leslie Wolfe, president of the Center for Women Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based research institute. “I believe that’s where the Women’s Bioethics Project comes in: By allowing people to see these issues through a gender lens, the WBP contributes a significant dimension that is often missing from many of today’s bioethical discussions.”
The Women’s Bioethics Project is an independent, nonpartisan, public-policy think tank based in Seattle. WBP is dedicated to ensuring that women’s voices, health concerns and unique life experiences will be represented in discussions and decisions about ethical issues in health care and biotechnology.