Between Harvard president Lawrence Summers comments that women might be underrepresented in the sciences as a result of innate sex differences (with nary a word about sexism in the professions) and the 80% male composition of UNESCOs International Bioethics Committee, one wonders: if women really are different from men, dont they need to be represented?
In a press release issued today, the Womens Bioethics Project highlights the under-representation of women on UNESCOs International Bioethics Committee, which is currently meeting in Paris to adopt the draft Declaration on Universal Bioethical Norms. Edmund Pellegrino is the expert from the U.S.
WBP founder Kathryn Hinsch calls the idea that a group that is 80% male should be thought capable of developing universal norms absurd, noting that women are affected differently by many bioethical issues. . . and that these issues tend to receive political attention and funding only when women make themselves heard. Or maybe its that they are innately shy and retiring?
The Womens Bioethics Project is a nonpartisan public-policy institute in Seattle that focuses on neuroethics, womens health, and reproductive technologies. Also, they have a spiffy new web design.
— Linda Glenn