Reckoning with anti-blackness; genetic lottery, religious exemptions; moral bioenhancement
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Latest News
October 8, 2021
** Reckoning with Anti-Blackness
Public Event
------------------------------------------------------------
This special session will describe an anti-racism initiative co-led by The Hastings Center and a diverse steering committee of justice-focused bioethics scholars, including Hastings senior advisor Faith Fletcher. The initiative aims to strengthen bioethics’s ability and moral responsibility to address racial and health injustices. The event, which is open to the public, will take place online on Thursday, October 14, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). Learn more and register here ([link removed]) .
** Moral Bioenchancement Essay Wins Roscoe Award
------------------------------------------------------------
Faced with existential threats such as climate change, some scholars argue that “moral bioenhancement” is needed to improve our collective moral capacity to do the right thing before it’s too late. But moral enhancement—whether through medications or other interventions--could have an immoral effect, argues Timothy Brown in “Moral Bioenhancement as Potential Means of Oppression,” the winner of the 2021 David Roscoe Award for an Early-Career Essay on Science, Ethics, and Society.” Read the essay and learn more about the award. ([link removed])
** Genetic Lottery; Religious Exemptions for Covid Vaccines -- in Hastings Biothics Forum
------------------------------------------------------------
Can genetic data that aims to predict complex human outcomes such as educational attainment be used to reduce social inequality? Senior research scholar Erik Parens closely examines this question in a commentary about a new book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality, by Kathryn Paige Harden. Read “Will Sociogenomics Reduce Social Inequality?” ([link removed])
Faced with mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, many people, including health care workers, have appealed for religious exemptions. Bernard Prusak, of King’s College in Pennsylvania, examines the legal and moral standing of these appeals. Read “What Warrants Religious Exemption from Covid Vaccine Mandates.” ([link removed])
**
Upcoming Events
------------------------------------------------------------
"Doing Bioethics in Public: Learnings from Hastings Center Initiatives," a presentation by Hastings Center scholars Nancy Berlinger and Erik Parens, and Rice Family Fellow Liz Bowen in a preconference session at ASBH. October 12 ([link removed]) .
"Genetically-Informed Education: The Problem or the Cure to Essentialism, Racism, and Ableism," a presentation by Hastings Center presidential scholar Lucas Matthews at ASBH. October 13 ([link removed]) .
"Abortion Clinics Dwindle While Deceptive 'Crisis Pregnancy Centers' Thrive: Epistemic Justice Concerns and Policy Solutions," a presentation by Hastings Center project manager/research assistant Danielle Pacia at ASBH. October 15 ([link removed]) .
"Toxic Treatments and Transgenic Rats: The Ecological Dimensions of Disability Art," a presentation by Hastings Center Rice Family Fellow Liz Bowen at ASBH. October 16 ([link removed]) .
"The Many Facets of Moral Distress Across Health Care Settings," a presentation by Hastings Center research scholar Nancy Berlinger at University of Pennsylvania. October 19 ([link removed]) .
Learn More ([link removed])
The Hastings Center seeks to ensure responsible health and science policy and practice. We work to secure the wisest possible use of emerging technologies and fair, compassionate, and just health care for people across their lifespan.
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2021 The Hastings Center, All rights reserved.
We strongly value your privacy and would never sell, give, or otherwise share your information. Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.