Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Science, politics and the President's Council on Bioethics

Nature Biotechnology volume 22, pages 509–510 (2004)Cite this article

Though the reports produced by the US President's Council on Bioethics have not yet had a dramatic effect on public debates in the United States, the Council itself is back in the limelight following the departures of Elizabeth Blackburn and William F. May and the additions of Benjamin Carson, Peter Lawler and Diana Schaub1. The White House announced changes to the membership of the Council on February 27, 2004 (ref. 2). Although the terms of all Council members expired in January, Blackburn and May were the only members not to have their appointments renewed. May's departure was characterized as a retirement, though May seemed unaware that he was retiring from the Council3. Blackburn states that she was removed from the Council because of her strong support of human embryonic stem (ES) cell research and emphasis upon recognizing the benefits of biomedical research4.

The departures of Blackburn and May generated numerous protests. The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology5, American Society for Cell Biology6, and a collection of bioethicists led by Arthur Caplan7 all sent letters to President Bush protesting their removal.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Weiss, R. The Washington Post February 28 (2004) p. A06. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ A13606-2004Feb27.html

    Google Scholar 

  2. White House Personnel Announcement, February 27 (2004). http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/ 02/20040227-11.html

  3. Kohn, D. & Bell, J. Baltimore Sun March 2 (2004) p. 7A.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Blackburn, E.H. The Washington Post March 7 (2004), p. BO2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ A35471-2004Mar6.html

    Google Scholar 

  5. Masters, B.S. Letter to President Bush regarding dismissals of two from Bioethics Council (2004). American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. http://www.asbmb.org/ASBMB/site.nsf/web/ 267310B762033C2C85256E4C00750E16?opendocument

    Google Scholar 

  6. American Society for Cell Biology. Letter to President Bush regarding dismissals of two from Bioethics Council (2004). http://www.ascb.org/newsroom/blackburn.html

  7. Caplin, A. et al. Open letter to President Bush regarding Council on Bioethics. (2004). http://bioethics.net/openletter.php

  8. Blackburn, E. New Engl. J. Med. 350, 14 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kass, L. The Washington Post March 3 (2004) p. A27. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/ A24742-2004Mar2?language=printer

    Google Scholar 

  10. Boonstra, H. The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy 6, 1–3 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kennedy, D. Science 299, 625 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Novak, K. Nat. Med. 9, 153 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lawler, P.A. National Rev. Online Dec 22 (2003). http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/ lawler200312220001.asp

  14. Lawler, P.A. The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology & Society (2004). http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/4/lawler.htm

    Google Scholar 

  15. Schaub, D. First Things 129, 50–53 (2003). http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0301/ reviews/schaub.html

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Studies of Medicine, Biomedical Ethics Unit, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3647 Peel Street, Montreal, H3A 1X1, Quebec, Canada

    Leigh Turner

  2. Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    Leigh Turner

Authors
  1. Leigh Turner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Turner, L. Science, politics and the President's Council on Bioethics. Nat Biotechnol 22, 509–510 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0504-509

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0504-509

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing