Proposed Protest at ASBH Against Kass

From MCW Today a Proposal to Protest Leon Kass, which comes right on the heels of an international media conversation about how the President is misusing bioethics, an argument made in nature. The protest idea is from Rosamond Rhodes:

Dear ALL,

When ASBH first announced the inclusion of Leon Kass and Francis Fukuyama on the meeting program, I privately voiced my objections. Nevertheless, their spot on the program remained and the ASBH website promotes it as "A notable two-hour Keynote session."

I had considered boycotting the session. I have decided that an invisible protest might allow me the illusion of clean hands, but as a bioethicist I have a moral responsibility to do more.

Professional meetings are usually inappropriate venues fr political action. Yet, the inclusion of the Chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, on the ASBH program Thursday, 1:15-3:15, is political. I shall be protesting Kass & Fukuyama's positions, actions, and inclusion on the program with silence (NO APPLAUSE). Protest signs (my favorite so far is "SAVE LIVES, CLONE STEM CELLS.") or leaving in the middle of the speech are other possibilities. I invite you to share your ideas in this forum as well.

Yours, Rosamond Rhodes

Rhodes' is accessible by email at Rosamond.Rhodes@mssm.edu. Alex Capron and others have argued that a protest would be inappropriate or unseemly. McGee has replied that a protest is right on target and on time.