The President's Council on Bioethics was a group of individuals appointed by United States PresidentGeorge W. Bush to advise his administration on bioethics. Established on November 28, 2001, by Executive Order, the council was directed to "advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge as a consequence of advances in biomedicalscience and technology". It succeeded and largely replaced the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, which expired in 2001. The members of the council were appointed directly by the President; the President also chose the chairperson of the council. Council members, totaling no more than 18, were appointed for a two-year term, after which time they could be reappointed by the President. Individuals appointed could not be officers or employees of the federal government. Executive Order 13237 was renewed in 2003, 2005 and again in 2007.
Critics have questioned the motives and goals of the PCBE. Elizabeth Blackburn, who was dismissed from the Commission, co-authored an article, citing examples published by other members, suggesting that it was set up to justify President Bush's positions on stem cell research and abortion, writing "...our concern is that some of their contents... may have ended up distorting the potential of biomedical research and the motivation of some of its researchers." Bioethicist Leslie A. Meltzer accused the council of wrapping "political and religious agendas in the guise of dignity," and described them as largely Christian-affiliated neoconservatives; philosophers and political scientists rather than bench scientists. Meltzer said that Council members mischaracterized the positions of their opponents and used invective rather than addressing the merits of the arguments. The response to President Obama's decision to disband the council drew both criticism and praise. Colleen Carroll Campbell, a former speechwriter for President Bush and a member of the conservative advocacy groupEthics and Public Policy Center predicted that "Obama's desire to see his policies backed by expert 'consensus' more likely will be realized with a new commission composed of like-minded political liberals steeped in utilitarianism than with the brainy, diverse and unpredictable crew that populated the now-defunct council." In contrast, Jacob M. Appel of New York'sMount Sinai Hospital wrote that "the panel itself, far from being an incubator of intellectual ferment, had evolved into a publicly funded right-wing think tank with a handful of token moderates for window dressing" and argued that "Obama was wise to scrap the entire panel and to start over."
