Taking Life

This Week in Bioethics #114

1. New Jersey Legalizes Commercial Gestational Surrogacy Sadly, NJ Gov. Murphy has signed into law S482, which authorizes gestational carrier agreements. We’ve been following this bill closely for several months. We know that many, many people worked tirelessly to oppose the bill and to encourage Gov. Murphy to veto it. This is a major disappointment. […]

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This Week in Bioethics #103

1. Pregnancy Outcomes for Surrogate Pregnancies are Significantly Different A recent journal article highlights a number of crucial differences between surrogate pregnancies and non-surrogate pregnancies.  2. Storage Issues at Fertility Clinics Two fertility clinics suffered failures in their frozen storage tanks last week. Reports by NBC, the Washington Post, and People magazine.   3. Romanticizing Double […]

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This Week in Bioethics #102

1. Welcome to GATTACA The United Arab Emirates’ Khaleej Times reports on the near future of reproductive technologies. Genetic engineering of the embryo could mean that people will soon be able to produce ‘super babies.’ “People can start modifying embryos, for example, activating certain genes and replacing others or like removing all defective genes that […]

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This Week in Bioethics #100

To celebrate the 100th This Week in Bioethics (TWIB), Jennifer and I did a 10 minute Facebook live version of TWIB! 1. How Many? How many? This was Jennifer’s simple question in her testimony before the Washington State House Judiciary Committee yesterday morning. How many women . . . how many children . . . […]

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This Week in Bioethics #99

To mark the 99th issue of This Week in Bioethics I decided to make a video version to accompany the written version. Take a few minutes to watch it and let us know what you think. 1. Surrogacy Legislation Debate in New Jersey A bill that would legalize commercial surrogacy in New Jersey was advanced […]

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This Week in Bioethics #95

1. Jennifer in Washington State On Tuesday, Jennifer testified before the Washington State Senate’s Law & Justice Committee. They’re considering SB 6037, The Uniform Parentage Act, which would, among other things, legalize surrogacy in and encourage reproductive tourism to Washington State. In just over two minutes, Jennifer attempted to summarize the full scope of the […]

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This Week in Bioethics

1. Latest on the Sherri Shepherd Surrogacy Saga A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that TV personality and actress Sherri Shepherd cannot get out of the surrogacy contract into which she and her former husband entered. The couple split up during the surrogate’s pregnancy, and so Ms. Shepherd sought to get out of her commitment […]

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This Week in Bioethics

1. Matching Gift Challenge On Monday we announced that some of our very generous donors are matching $30,000 in donations given between now and the end of 2017. The CBC (like most nonprofit organizations) relies heavily on end-of-year giving in order to start the new year on a strong footing. We have already raised $4,023 […]

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This Week in Bioethics

1. #StopSurrogacyNow Jessica Allen’s surrogacy story picked up even more press this week: Washington Post, BBC, People magazine, Inside Edition, PopSugar, The Independent, LiveScience, Mom.me, and more. You may remember that she was pregnant with a baby for a Chinese couple and with her own child at the same time, and she had to fight […]

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This Week in Bioethics

1. Another Surrogacy Nightmare Yesterday’s New York Post profiled a young California mother who served as a surrogate mother for a Chinese couple. When she saw the twin boys she’d delivered she said, “Wow! They look different.” One of the boys was Chinese, the other was half-white, half African-American, the child of Jessica and her […]

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Update: D.C. Assisted Suicide Law

Update to the update: the law has gone into effect. The House did not vote on the measure to block it, and the Senate version never left committee (both chambers would have needed to vote to block the bill by Friday, February 17). The organization that spearheaded the campaign for this law released a statement […]

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2016 Winners and Losers

Each year at this time we look back over the past twelve months with an eye toward identifying those whose lives and work actively promoted and affirmed a truly human future, and those who did not. Winners: Stephanie Packer is more than a winner; she really is a hero. Sitting down with her while making […]

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Update: We Will Be Rescheduling This Event — Please Join Us for a Public Conversation on Depression, Hope, and Healing

UPDATE: Unfortunately, we will not be holding this event on January 20. We are working to reschedule it. Stay tuned to our website and social media channels. Thank you. The Center for Bioethics and Culture presents our third "Public Conversation" Live Event, with Dr. Aaron Kheriaty. Please join us on Friday, January 20! And pass this along […]

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To Be Human can be Really Hard

Last week I wrote about the Massachusetts Medical Society’s plans to survey their members, part of which involved a debate over the terms medical aid in dying” vs. “physician-assisted suicide.” As part of that discussion, one Massachusetts physician emphasized the need to highlight the growth and development of the field of palliative care in any […]

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Let’s Call it What it Is

The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts Medical Society is planning to conduct a survey of its 25,000 members in order to determine their perspectives on either “medical aid in dying” or “physician-assisted suicide.” Deciding what to call it seems to be one of the main sticking points. The doctors even disagreed about what words […]

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Physician-Assisted Death Destroys Medical Ethics

The editor-in-chief of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Lawrence Huntoon, M.D., Ph.D., addresses physician assisted suicide in the winter edition of the journal. His goal is to encourage physicians and the medical associations of which they are a part to hold firm to medicine’s Hippocratic roots and continue to oppose assisted suicide measures. […]

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Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare Launches

We at the CBC are excited to be a member of the just launched Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare, a diverse coalition of doctors, nurses, advocates for persons with disabilities, medical ethicists, elder-care workers, and others committed to ensuring real care throughout life’s journey. Healthcare should always involve the best possible care options for every […]

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Clear about What is at Stake

In recent testimony before the New Jersey Health and Human Services Committee, Dr. Matthew Suh of the New Jersey medical association succinctly described exactly what is at stake when it comes to a proposed bill entitled “Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act.” NorthJersey.com reports: “Let’s be clear, this is government-funded suicide,” said Dr. […]

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