Donate $50 - Get Progress in Bioethics

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Women’s Bioethics Project so we may distribute as many copies as possible of the soon to be released book "Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics" (MIT Press 2010) to policy makers, science writers and bloggers around the world. This important book will help ensure progressive values of social justice, critical optimism, practical problem solving inform bioethical debate on issues such as stem cell research, genetic modification, therapeutic cloning and end-of-life issues. I wrote chapter 4 on "Bioethics: The New Conservative Crusade." Don’t let the debate be defined by narrowly driven ideological interests.

Help us reach our goal of one hundred books distributed by January 2010. A $50 donation will get a copy of the book into the hands of a key policy maker and we’ll send you a copy too. Find our online donation page here.

Thanks for helping build the kind of world we all want to live in.

Kristof on Cancer in the Kitchen

NY Times Nicholas Kristof makes a point worthy of notice to those in the public health:

"As long as we’re examining our medical system, the public health system should stop ignoring common chemicals linked to fatal diseases."

His Sunday column looks at links between chemicals, such as those in plastic water bottles and food storage containers, and other things in 0ur kitchen --- and breast cancer and other ailments. Read it and leave your thoughts.

WBP mentioned on CNN Health

Kathryn Hinsch, founder of the Women's Bioethics Project, was quoted on CNN Health, regarding ethical issues in cosmetic surgery and patient-doctor relationships:

"Part of the fundamental trust between a patient and doctor is the idea that the doctor has the patient's best interest at heart, and that there is no financial incentive for the doctor to perform any procedure," Hinsch says. "When doctors start adding cosmetic procedures, which they're adding because they're big moneymakers, there's a corruption of that basic trust."

The article goes on to explore how physicians sidestep this ethical quagmire by never directly hawking their fat-blasting, wrinkle-smoothing, and hair-removal services, but that even a stack of brochures in the waiting room, Hinsch insists, sends the message to patients that looking younger is a matter of good health. To read the complete article, click here.

Kudos to Kathryn for the recognition and speaking up on the ethical issues!