Bush establishes presidential council on bioethics

By Kelly Wallace
CNN Washington

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush issued an executive order Wednesday creating a new presidential council on bioethics, with the goal of bringing together the "best minds" to look at the look at "toughest issues" in bioethics and biotechnology, said an administration official.

Bush called for the creation of the new council back in August, when he announced his decision to back federal research only on already existing embryonic stem cell lines. At that time, the president also announced that Dr. Leon Kass, a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago, would chair the new panel.

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"This council will keep us apprised of new developments and give our nation a forum to continue to discuss and evaluate these important issues," said the president during his speech to the nation on stem cell research in August. "As we go forward, I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience."

Kass proposed an international ban on human cloning during his testimony before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission in 1997.

Other members of the new 18-person presidential council have not yet been appointed by the president, but are expected to include leading doctors, scientists, ethicists, lawyers and theologians.

In his executive order, the president said the council will address the "human and moral significance" of advancements in biomedical science and technology, explore ethical and policy questions related to certain developments -- such as embryo and stem cell research -- and make recommendations.

The creation of the council was not in response to this weekend's breakthrough by scientists who announced the first human embryos created through the cloning process, said White House Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan.

The bioethics presidential council will be in existence for only two years unless the president extends its mission.