TEMPERATURES AND ENTHUSIASM SOAR AT “THE CHRISTIAN STAKEIN DIGNITY AND DYING” CONFERENCE AND BIOETHICS INSTITUTE
Undaunted by 105-degree temperatures, hundreds of people gathered in Deerfield, Illinois, USA for The Center’s second annual bioethics conference. The conference was cosponsored by Christian Medical and Dental Society, Nurses Christian Fellowship, Christian Legal Society, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Held primarily on the campus of Trinity International University, the conference examined the Christian stake in dignity and dying. Conference evaluations indicate that the event was extremely well received.
The conference opened on Thursday, July 13 with several reflections on the experience of dying and a time of worship during which Ravi Zacharias spoke on “human dignity.” The conference included plenary sessions, topical parallel sessions, and profession-specific discussion sessions for physicians, nurses, clergy, educators, and lawyers/public policymakers. Over thirty speakers were featured. Session topics included: 1. the practical significance of bioethics; 2. the comparing of Christian and other perspectives on human dignity, suffering, and autonomy; 3. the evaluation of when to forgo “futile” and other treatment; 4. the assessment of the growing openness towards assisted suicide in Oregon, Holland, and elsewhere; 5. the consideration of the use of advance directives; 6. the identification of life-affirming approaches to end-of-life suffering.
A special feature of the conference was the unique opportunity to network with Christians addressing bioethics in diverse professions and locations. Another highlight was a debate and public forum on assisted suicide held on the evening of Friday, July 14. The debate featured Dr. Edmund Pellegrino of Georgetown University Medical Center and Mr. Geoffrey Fieger, attorney and spokesperson for Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Audio and video tapes of the debate and other conference sessions are available, and a related book, Dignity and Dying, will be released next summer by Eerdmans Publishing Company in North America and Paternoster Press in Europe and beyond.
During the week of the conference, The Center held its first week-long Intensive Bioethics Institute on the campus of Trinity International University. The Institute provided abroad orientation to the field of bioethics, comparing Christian and non-Christian perspectives. The Institute was taught by 18 leading Christian figures (who also spoke at the conference) and included sessions on the following topics: the changing face of healthcare, approaches to bioethics, confidentiality, informed consent, reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, abortion, disabled newborns, resource allocation, forgoing treatment, and assisted suicide. The well-attended Institute gave its participants a better grasp of the bioethics field and current issues. Graduate level academic credit was available for the Institute, and both undergraduate and graduate level credit was available for the conference. Plans are well underway for next year’s annual conference, to be held July18-20, 1996, and the second intensive bioethics Institute, to be held July 15-20, 1996.