A Changing World Order: Challenges and Opportunities for Bioethics at ASBH Conference
October 15 @ 11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Hastings Center for Bioethics President and CEO Vardit Ravitsky will present with colleagues at the 2026 ASBH Conference in the JW Grand Ballroom 5-6 (Third Floor)
- Nancy S. Jecker, PhD (she/her/hers)Professor
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington - Kayhan Parsi, J.D., PhD, HEC-C (he/him/his)Professor of Bioethics & Graduate Program Director
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Maywood, Illinois - Mark G. Kuczewski, Ph.D. (he/him/his)Fr. Michael I. English Professor of Medical Ethics & Director Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics
Loyola University Chicago
Maywood, Illinois - Vardit Ravitsky, Ph.D.President and CEO
The Hastings Center for Bioethics
Garrison, New York
Abstract: The post-1945 world order is changing and these changes are impacting bioethics, especially bioethicists who work in the area of global health. The U.S. government has withdrawn from the WHO and Paris Climate Agreement and ended programs around the world that promote health and save lives. This panel will consider how these changes pose obstacles and opportunities for bioethics.
The first panelist will consider U.S. defunding of global health and the new “America First Global Health Strategy” by situating them in the context of changes to the geopolitical landscape. Contrasting multilateral and multipolar tactics, they will consider prospects for more sustainable global health partnerships.
The second panelist will address ethical and legal challenges confronting immigrants perceived as ‘enemies domestic’ and others in U.S. government custody. They will propose options for responding that address moral hazards facing people needing care, their providers, and their healthcare facilities.
The third panelist will discuss respect for autonomy as a key feature of liberal democracy along with associated features of such a political system-free press, academic freedom, and nonpartisan civil servants. These important aspects of a liberal democracy have come under direct attack. Can and should America still exert leadership in global bioethics without these key features?
The final panelist will speak to the shifting role of bioethics considering increased interconnections and interdependencies between people, highlighting the many ways in which bioethics has become more international.
The speakers will engage the audience in brainstorming how bioethics can and should respond to a changing world order.
Keyword: Changing world order, Responsibilities of the professor, Future of bioethics
