Human dignity, once a cornerstone for bioethics, is increasingly obscured by a contemporary culture of commodification. Myopic fixation on sexuality, fertility, and reproduction reduces the female body to a resource for medical exploitation and reproductive tourism. Procreation is being engulfed by the reproductive imperative and the child of choice. Without neglecting the ongoing emphases on beginning- and end-of-life issues, our task must include attention to prenatal discrimination, the neglect of the girl child, worldwide disparities in women’s healthcare and maternal mortality, and the objectification and exploitation of the female body. Responsible Christian bioethics embraces her dignity as essential to her community and foundational to our common humanity. Join us as we explore important ethical considerations surrounding developments in reproductive practices and global women’s health through the lens of reclaiming dignity in a culture of commodification.
Plenary Speakers
Thursday, July 12
Framing the Discussion - Michael J. Sleasman, PhD
Reclaiming Her Dignity: From Commodification to Community - Paige Comstock Cunningham, JD
Friday, July 13
Dignity Lost, Dignity Regained: Theological Abundance for Global Bioethics - Pia de Solenni, SThD
Women's Health and the Health of Family, Community, and Society: Cause or Effect? - Monique Chireau, MD, MPH
Saturday, July 14
Women Alone: Feminism's False Promise and the Decline of Dignity - Charmaine Yoest, PhD
Commodifying Women's Bodies: Some Goods Are Not for Sale - C. Ben Mitchell, PhD
Reframing the Discussion - Michael J. Sleasman, PhD
Parallel Papers
Friday, July 13
The Changing Definition of Death - Christine Toevs, MD, MA
Using Bioethical Case Studies to Enhance High School Science and Religion Classes - Terry Maksymowych, PhD
Information Disclosure Practices Between Fertility Clinics & Egg Donors: Two Concerns - James Rhea, MA
Can Coercion Be Justified When It Benefits the Poor: The Case of Commercial Surrogacy Industry in India - Packiaraj Asirvatham, MA
Family Planning for Improving Health and Reducing Abortion: Where Faith and Science Meet - Mona Bormet, MPH and Douglas Huber, MD, MSc
Reproductive Servitude - Justin A. Egge and Laura Leigh French
The Ethics of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing - Jessica Minor, MA
The Insufficiency of Human Dignity: Toward a More Christian Anthropology - Ryan R. Nash, MD, MA
Dignity of the Human Embryo through the Lens of a Covenantal Ethic - James J. Rusthoven, MD, MHSc, PhD
Saturday, July 14
Family Planning for Improving Health and Reducing Abortion: Where Faith and Science Meet - Mona Bormet, MPH and Douglas Huber, MD, MSc
Disaster Bioethics - Donal P. O'Mathuna, PhD
'Good Death' in a Filipino Context - Gemma N. Balein, DMD, MA, MS
A Lutheran Defense of the HPV Vaccine - Thor Swanson, MD, MA, MDiv
Politicizing Women's Health: True Concern v. Campaign Tool - Courtney Thiele, MA
Honor Killing and Strategies to Change It - Sharon A. Falkenheimer, MPH, MD
Retaining the Dignity of Words in a Digital World - William P. Cheshire, Jr., MD
Whose Dignity? Theological Reflections on a Devilishly Difficult Term in Bioethical Debates - Todd T. W. Daly, PhD
Applying Richard Zaner's Phenomenology of the Clinical Encounter to the Treatment of Disorders of Sex Development (Intersex) Conditions - Terry Maksymowych, PhD
Empowering the Women of Nigeria through Home Based Life Saving Skills - Margaret Taylor, MS, CNM, FACNM
Courses
Intensive Bioethics Institute - D. Joy Riley, MD
Advanced Bioethics Institute - Michael Sleasman, PhD
Ethics Committees and Consultants Institute - Robert Orr, MD and Lisa Anderson-Shaw, DPH, MA, MSN
Undergraduate Bioethics Institute - Joyce Shelton, PhD
Undergraduate/Graduate Wrap-Around Course - Ferdinand D. Yates, Jr., MD
Graduate Wrap-Around Course - Hans Madueme, MD, PhD Candidate and Dennis Hollinger, PhD
Post-Conference Seminar: Contemporary Issues in End of Life - Ryan Nash, MD
Post-Conference Seminar: Bioethics in Film, Fiction, and Art - Christina Bieber Lake, PhD
Workshops
The Nexus of Biotechnology & Public Policy - CBHD w/ Michelle Kirtley
A Medical Overview of Embryo Donation - National Embryo Donation Center w/ Robert Visscher, MD & Reginald Finger, MD
