Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into Bioethics and Health Humanities Scholarship and Practice
Each webinar will be offered to both members and nonmembers free of charge. Advance registration is required.
When Immigration Enforcement Comes to Our Hospitals and Schools: Considerations for Ethics and Policy
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Noon Central Time
Speakers: Matthew Lopas, JD; Thalia Porteny, PhD MSc; and Altaf Saadi, MD MSc, with moderation by ASBH Secretary Rachel Fabi, PhD HEC-C
This webinar will feature panelists from diverse professional backgrounds, who will discuss the rapidly changing landscape for immigration enforcement in the US. Healthcare professionals, leaders, and clinical ethicists are faced with new challenges in responding to immigration officers coming into clinical spaces, which used to be considered "sensitive" and protected. Educators and school administrators have similar uncertainties due to the potential for immigration raids and student detentions, with several already making national news. Our panelists will share their perspectives on the state of immigration enforcement in 2025 and offer recommendations relevant to those working in bioethics and health humanities.
Clinical Ethics Consultation & Responding to Medical Racism
Clinical ethicists, like all healthcare professionals, have a duty to recognize and respond to racism on both interpersonal and structural levels to improve patient care. Doing so can be challenging and fraught with uncertainty. This webinar offers an opportunity to learn from and expand existing frameworks in order to structurally respond to medical racism. We will systematically review cases in an interactive format, exploring strategies to address medical racism and intersecting axes of oppression in clinical ethics consultation.
Trans Bioethics in a Moral Panic
The practice of trans bioethics has been radically altered in recent years by widespread attempts to curtail and even criminalize access to gender-affirming medical care. In this presentation, Florence Ashley will explore how the current sociopolitical landscape impacts bioethicists’ engagement with trans communities. Attendees will learn about the political and human rights dimensions of gender-affirming care and deepen their understanding of how to counter misinformation about transgender health.
Addressing Disability Health Disparities
A large body of research suggests that ableism (discrimination in favor of able-bodied people or the assumption that a “normal” body and mind is better than an abnormal one) is a central and deeply entrenched issue within medical knowledge and practice, leading to disproportionately low quality and equity of care for disabled patients. However, attempts to concretely address this problem run into numerous obstacles. Building upon work across philosophy of disability and disability studies, we will discuss the causes of disability health disparities and the concrete steps that healthcare practitioners, bioethicists, and public health professionals can take to improve quality and equity of care for disabled patients.
Antiracist Praxis in Bioethics: Implications for Health Equity
This presentation will consider the ways in which antiracist praxis offers strategies to explicitly address structural racism and inequities in the field of bioethics. This presentation will also highlight the importance of prioritizing antiracism in bioethics scholarship, education and practice to advance health equity.
Our Past, Our Present, Our Future