The President's Council on Bioethics
Encyclopedia
The President's Council on Bioethics (PCBE) was a group of individuals appointed by United States
President
George W. Bush
to advise his administration on bioethics
. Established on November 28, 2001, by Executive Order 13237, the Council was directed to "advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge as a consequence of advances in biomedical
science
and technology
". It succeeded and largely replaced National Bioethics Advisory Commission, appointed by President Bill Clinton
in 1996, which expired in 2001.
The members of the council were appointed directly by the President; the President also chose the chairperson
of the Council (last appointed Chair was Edmund D. Pellegrino
). Council members, totaling no more than 18, were appointed for a two-year term
, after which time they could be reappointed by the President. Individuals appointed could not be officers or employees of the federal government
. Executive Order 13237 was renewed in 2003, 2005 and again in 2007.
's administration informed members of the Council that their services were no longer needed. Through a spokeperson, Obama made clear that he intended to replace the committee with a body that "offers practical policy options" rather than philosophical guidance.
Executive Order 13521 of November 24, 2009 superseded the previous council by establishing the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009, Obama named Amy Gutmann
, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, to chair his new advisory panel on bioethics. James W. Wagner
, the president of Emory University, was appointed vice chairperson.
, who was fired from the Commission, accused it of being set up to justify President Bush's positions on stem cell research and abortion, and his alleged distortions of science.
Bioethicist Leslie A. Meltzer accused the Council of wrapping "political and religious agendas in the guise of dignity," and described them as largely Christian-affiliated neoconservatives; philosophers and political scientists rather than bench scientists. Meltzer said that Council members mischaracterized the positions of their opponents and used invective rather than addressing the merits of the arguments.
The response to President Obama's decision to disband the Council drew both criticism and praise. Colleen Carroll Campbell, a former speechwriter for President Bush and a member of the conservative advocacy group Ethics and Public Policy Center
predicted that "Obama's desire to see his policies backed by expert 'consensus' more likely will be realized with a new commission composed of like-minded political liberals steeped in utilitarianism than with the brainy, diverse and unpredictable crew that populated the now-defunct council." In contrast, Jacob M. Appel
of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital
wrote that "the panel itself, far from being an incubator of intellectual ferment, had evolved into a publicly funded right-wing think tank with a handful of token moderates for window dressing" and argued that "Obama was wise to scrap the entire panel and to start over."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to advise his administration on bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
. Established on November 28, 2001, by Executive Order 13237, the Council was directed to "advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge as a consequence of advances in biomedical
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
". It succeeded and largely replaced National Bioethics Advisory Commission, appointed by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in 1996, which expired in 2001.
The members of the council were appointed directly by the President; the President also chose the chairperson
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
of the Council (last appointed Chair was Edmund D. Pellegrino
Edmund D. Pellegrino
Edmund Daniel Pellegrino was the 11th president of The Catholic University of America and the second layman to hold the position....
). Council members, totaling no more than 18, were appointed for a two-year term
Term of office
Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...
, after which time they could be reappointed by the President. Individuals appointed could not be officers or employees of the federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. Executive Order 13237 was renewed in 2003, 2005 and again in 2007.
Expiration and replacement
In June 2009, President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's administration informed members of the Council that their services were no longer needed. Through a spokeperson, Obama made clear that he intended to replace the committee with a body that "offers practical policy options" rather than philosophical guidance.
Executive Order 13521 of November 24, 2009 superseded the previous council by establishing the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues was created by Executive Order 13521 on November 24, 2009, to succeed the disbanded President's Council on Bioethics. The Commission's leadership and members were appointed by President Barack Obama...
. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009, Obama named Amy Gutmann
Amy Gutmann
Amy Gutmann is the eighth President of the University of Pennsylvania and the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Communications, and Philosophy...
, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, to chair his new advisory panel on bioethics. James W. Wagner
James W. Wagner
James W. Wagner has served as the President of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia since 2003. From 2000 to 2003, he served as Provost and interim President of Case Western Reserve University.-Biography:...
, the president of Emory University, was appointed vice chairperson.
Criticism
Critics such as Elizabeth BlackburnElizabeth Blackburn
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, AC, FRS is an Australian-born American biological researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies the telomere, a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome. Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the...
, who was fired from the Commission, accused it of being set up to justify President Bush's positions on stem cell research and abortion, and his alleged distortions of science.
Bioethicist Leslie A. Meltzer accused the Council of wrapping "political and religious agendas in the guise of dignity," and described them as largely Christian-affiliated neoconservatives; philosophers and political scientists rather than bench scientists. Meltzer said that Council members mischaracterized the positions of their opponents and used invective rather than addressing the merits of the arguments.
The response to President Obama's decision to disband the Council drew both criticism and praise. Colleen Carroll Campbell, a former speechwriter for President Bush and a member of the conservative advocacy group Ethics and Public Policy Center
Ethics and Public Policy Center
The Ethics and Public Policy Center is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy group. Formed in 1976 by Ernest W. Lefever, who was its president until 1989, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy."Since...
predicted that "Obama's desire to see his policies backed by expert 'consensus' more likely will be realized with a new commission composed of like-minded political liberals steeped in utilitarianism than with the brainy, diverse and unpredictable crew that populated the now-defunct council." In contrast, Jacob M. Appel
Jacob M. Appel
Jacob M. Appel is an American author, bioethicist and social critic. He is best known for his short stories, his work as a playwright, and his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics and euthanasia....
of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. In 2011-2012, Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked as one of America's best hospitals by U.S...
wrote that "the panel itself, far from being an incubator of intellectual ferment, had evolved into a publicly funded right-wing think tank with a handful of token moderates for window dressing" and argued that "Obama was wise to scrap the entire panel and to start over."
Chairmen
- Edmund D. PellegrinoEdmund D. PellegrinoEdmund Daniel Pellegrino was the 11th president of The Catholic University of America and the second layman to hold the position....
, M.D. - chairman (2005–2008) - Leon R. KassLeon KassLeon Richard Kass is an American physician, scientist, educator, and public intellectual, best known as proponent of liberal education via the "Great Books," as an opponent of human cloning and euthanasia, as a critic of certain areas of technological progress and embryo research, and for his...
, M.D., Ph.D. - chairman (2001–2005)
Members
- Edmund D. PellegrinoEdmund D. PellegrinoEdmund Daniel Pellegrino was the 11th president of The Catholic University of America and the second layman to hold the position....
, M.D. - chairman (2005–2008) - Ben CarsonBen CarsonBenjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr., M.D., is an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W...
, M.D. - Rebecca S. Dresser, J.D., M.S.
- Daniel W. Foster, M.D.
- Michael S. GazzanigaMichael GazzanigaMichael S. Gazzaniga is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he heads the new SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. He is one of the leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience, the study of the neural basis of mind...
, Ph.D. - Robert P. GeorgeRobert P. GeorgeRobert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties and philosophy of law. He also serves as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions...
, J.D., D. Phil - Alfonso Gomez-LoboAlfonso Gomez-LoboDr. Alfonso Gómez-Lobo, a professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Georgetown University, is known for his critical evaluations of modern day ethics...
, Dr. Phil. - Leon R. KassLeon KassLeon Richard Kass is an American physician, scientist, educator, and public intellectual, best known as proponent of liberal education via the "Great Books," as an opponent of human cloning and euthanasia, as a critic of certain areas of technological progress and embryo research, and for his...
, M.D., Ph.D.
- William B. HurlbutWilliam B. HurlbutWilliam B. Hurlbut is a physician and Consulting Professor in the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford, Stanford University Medical Center. Born in St. Helena, California, he grew up in Bronxville, New York...
, M.D. - Charles KrauthammerCharles KrauthammerCharles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, M.D. - Peter Augustine Lawler, Ph.D.
- Paul McHugh, M.D.
- Gilbert C. Meilaender, Ph.D.
- Janet D. Rowley, M.D.
- Diana J. SchaubDiana SchaubDiana Schaub is professor of political science at Loyola College in Maryland. Schaub received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She teaches and writes on a wide range of issues in political philosophy and American political thought....
, Ph.D.
- Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D. (2002–2004)
- Stephen L. CarterStephen L. CarterStephen L. Carter is an American law professor, legal- and social-policy writer, columnist, and best-selling novelist.-Education:...
, J.D. (2002) - Francis FukuyamaFrancis FukuyamaYoshihiro Francis Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and author. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford. Before that he served as a professor and director of the International Development program at the School of...
, Ph.D. (2002–2005) - Mary Ann GlendonMary Ann GlendonMary Ann Glendon J.D., LL.M., was the United States Ambassador to the Holy See and is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She teaches and writes on bioethics, comparative constitutional law, property, and human rights in international law...
, J.D., M.Comp.L. (2002–2005) - William F. May, Ph.D. (2002–2004)
- Michael J. Sandel, D.Phil. (2002–2005)
- James Q. WilsonJames Q. WilsonJames Q. Wilson is an American academic political scientist and an authority on public administration. He is a professor and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College....
, Ph.D. (2002–2005)
Former Council staff
- F. Daniel Davis, Ph.D. - executive director (2005–2009)
- Dean Frazier Clancy - executive director (2001–2004)
- Yuval LevinYuval LevinYuval Levin is an American political analyst, academic and journalist who is the founding Editor of National Affairs. Levin is also a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. In 2005 and 2006, he was a member of the White House domestic policy...
- executive director (2004–2005) - Richard Roblin, Ph.D. - scientific director (2001–2005), acting executive director (2005)
- O. Carter Snead - general counsel (2003–2005)
Reports and publications
- Taking Care: Ethical Caregiving in Our Aging Society (2005)
- White Paper: Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (2005)
- Reproduction and Responsibility: The Regulation of New Biotechnologies (2004)
- Monitoring Stem Cell Research (2004)
- Being Human: Readings from the President's Council on Bioethics (2003)
- Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness (2003)
- Human Cloning and Human Dignity (2002)
External links
- The President's Council on Bioethics
- Council Reports and Publications
- Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics The executive order that established the Council and defined its goals and powers.