On Feb. 27, President Bush dismissed two handpicked members of his Council on Bioethics who had publicly supported human embryonic stem cell research -- which the president opposes -- and replaced them with three members who can be counted on to fall in line. The two dismissed members include Elizabeth Blackburn, a renowned biologist at the University of California at San Francisco, and William May, a highly respected emeritus professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University. In their place, the president appointed:

• Diana Schaub, a political scientist at Loyola College who has opposed embryonic stem cell research, referring to it as “the evil of the willful destruction of human life,” according to the Washington Post;
• Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, who has called for more religion in public life; and
• Peter Lawler, a professor of government at Berry College in Georgia, who has written against abortion and the “threats of biotechnology.”

The council -- formed by Bush shortly after taking office -- has produced reports on human cloning, stem cell research and the use of biotechnology to enhance human beings. However, it frequently had problems reaching consensus as scientific facts took a backseat. Describing her experience in a Washington Post op-ed, Blackburn wrote, “I consistently sensed resistance to presenting human embryonic stem cell research in a way that would acknowledge the scientific, experimentally verified realities. The capabilities of embryonic versus adult stem cells, and their relative promise for medicine, were obfuscated.” Of course, consensus will now be easier to achieve, but debate is stifled in the process. “I am convinced that enlightened societies can only make good policy when that policy is based on the broadest possible information and on reasoned, open discussion,” Blackburn continued. “Narrowness of views on a federal commission is not conducive to the nation getting the best possible advice. My experience with the debate on embryonic stem cell research, however, suggests to me that a hardening and narrowing of views is exactly what is happening on the President’s Council on Bioethics.”