Posted 11:00 PM
by Mary
By ANA LITA, Ph.D.
HumanistNetworkNews.org
May 17, 2006
Biotechnological developments raise a variety of ethical questions that compel one to reexamine one's traditional morals and how they now apply to novel circumstances.
It was in the interest of addressing these complex questions with careful analysis and ethical considerations, devoid of dogma or oversimplification, that the IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics hosted its second Annual Conference on Global Bioethics this April in New York City.
The conference aimed to examine bioethical issues from a humanist perspective, basing one's moral framework on science and rationality rather than faith, and on core values such as freedom, autonomy, responsibility and solidarity without resorting to an appeal to the supernatural.
The Alden March Bioethics Institute of Albany Medical College in New York co-sponsored the program, which featured top bioethicists, lawyers, policy makers, humanist activists, scientific researchers and practitioners from around the world in an international and trans-cultural discussion.
Prof. Arthur Caplan, one of the world's leading bioethicists, set the tone of the conference in his opening address. Caplan disclosed that although a vaccine for cervical cancer would soon become available, this advance would come with a host of problems, including distribution, public provision and affordability. Caplan concluded by reminding the audience that bioethics must stay abreast if not ahead of science if bioethicists are to have any meaningful, practically useful contributions to make.
