Meetings and Programs

The Special Committee meets twice a year and also sponsors and co-sponsors programming at the ABA Midyear
and Annual Meetings.

 

2007

The next meeting will take place at the 2007 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, for more information please contact the Special Committee at bioethics@abanet.org or 202/662-1694.

I Bought My Ticket, Why Can't I Fly: Public Safety Versus Personal Freedom
Saturday, August 11, 2007
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
City Room, Second Floor
Westin San Francisco Market Street
50 Third Street, San Francisco, California

Please join the Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law at a FREE CLE program, including I. Michael Greenberger, J.D., the Director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland and a Professor at the School of Law, Anthony B. Iton, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., Alameda County, California Health Officer, and Lane Porter, J.D., M.P.H., Law and Human Rights Advisor at Constella Futures. The program will examine emerging issues related to the intersection of public health and emergency response law. The recent tuberculosis case, involving international travel, highlights the difficulties of quarantine as well as the interdisciplinary nature of effectively managing public health emergencies and the importance of early communication and clear mandates and guidelines in assessing threats of global pandemics, bioterror or other such public health emergencies.

Panelists:
I. Michael Greenberger, J.D., Washington, DC
Anthony B. Iton, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., Oakland, CA
Lane Porter, J.D., M.P.H., Washington, DC

Additional Sponsors:
Health Law Section
Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities
Section of International Law

For more bioethics related programming at the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting, please refer to the 2007 Annual Meeting Guide to Bioethics Related Programs.

 

Past Programs

2005

Making the Perfect Baby:
The Promise and Peril of "Designer Babies"

Saturday, 6 August 2005, 3:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Water Tower Room, Bronze Level, West Tower, Hyatt Regency Chicago

Should prospective parents be able to change their children's genetic characteristics or predispositions? What are the appropriate roles of the medical and legal communities and the government in promoting or restricting parental choices? What is the current landscape of the possibilities, realities, and economics of such alterations? This panel will address, from an ethical, medical and legal perspective, the nexus of innovations in medicine and science as they relate to genetic "enhancements" of children. In light of the potential for dramatic changes in pre-natal thinking, these experts will take a sober look at all of the issues that must be considered in this timely and important debate.

Moderator: Robin S. Shapiro, Milwaukee, WI
Panelists: Dr. Joel Frader, Chicago, IL; Estelle H. Rogers, Washington, DC; Professor Laurie Zoloth, Chicago, IL

Additional Co-Sponsors:
Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities; Section of Science and Technology Law; National Assocation of Women Judges; National Association of Women Lawyers

For more examples of bioethics related programming at past ABA meetings, please refer to the Special Committee's 2005 Annual Meeting Guide to Bioethics Related Programs.