I wish I could say that this kind of response to our work is rare. Sadly, it’s way too common.

Dear Ms. Lahl,

I had Dr. Oz in the back ground this morning while working from home. I started to hear you “speak” your opinion on older women and birth / pregancy . . . I wanted to smack you through the televesion. How dare you put your own ideas / thoughts / and whatever surveys and studies you have read on women who simply want to have a child—regardless of age? What throne do you feel you have earned to shout from? I was so apauled by you. . . . Im embarrased you have RN behind your name, as an RN myself, I would never consider you an equal.

WHAT MATTERS IS THAT A WOMAN WANTS A CHILD—STEP OUT OF THEIR WAY WITH YOUR STUDIES AND RISKS!!! ITS THEIR RIGHT AND CHOICE! GOD, YOUR AN AWFUL PERSON.

— April, RN

We’re Runnin’ on Empty

Dear CBC Friends,

Because I consider you an interested friend of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, I feel I need to share a sobering reality with you: our financial reservoir is empty. Throughout the summer, in order to keep CBC programs moving forward, I have used every dollar we had at the beginning of June. We are now running on empty!

Frankly, your timely special gift is needed now. With the doors of opportunities never before more open, we dare not stop pushing forward. Without financial help, I will have to make serious cuts to an already lean budget. Generous gifts from friends like you allow us to continue to boldly press forward.

Can I count on your timely help as we seek to take the next strategic steps?

While I feel we are running on fumes financially, I am very encouraged with what is happening. Here are just three examples of success:

(1)The Italian version of Eggsploitation is being released this month at The Meeting in Rimini, Italy (where over 100,000 attend each year). The implications of this are huge. This now opens the door for other translations for tens of thousands who do not speak English and are uninformed on how bioethics can have a devastating impact on people’s lives. I did not have the funds to make this trip, but when word got out about this translation breakthrough, a few friends provided the funding through Kickstarter so I could attend and speak at this premiere showing.

(2) The first meeting of the Paul Ramsey Institute was held on August 17 and 18. Four of our Paul Ramsey Scholars and nine eager, hand-picked student Fellows met together for an engaging two days, working on practical ways to challenge socially accepted but ethically charged norms. I was amazed at the depth of conversation about honoring and protecting life and about finding ways to impact our culture. This Institute launches a process of equipping a new generation to boldly speak truth in a culture that defines success by profitability rather than by human dignity.

(3) September and October are already packed with key speaking engagements and screenings of Anonymous Father’s Day and Eggsploitation. I am scheduled to be at Urbana Seminary in Illinois, Luther Rice Seminary in Georgia, The Kings College in New York City, various key speaking events in Washington, DC, and at the University of Virginia Law School. During these trips I will also begin capturing video stories that will be featured in a new film (our fourth!) addressing the issue of surrogacy, which I am hoping to see completed within the next year.

Now is not the time to retreat. This is why—more than ever before—I need your financial help today! With appropriate funding, the CBC team can continue to challenge the dominant bioethical thinking and be the crystal clear voice that speaks out on issues that impact human dignity and on the implications of advances in the realm of bioethics.

Please join me in this challenge. You can give through our website, www.CBC-Network.org. I seriously need your help at this time and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Most sincerely,

Jennifer Lahl
President
The Center for Bioethics and Culture

 

Now is not the time to make cuts that will impact the CBC mission. Please help me take full advantage of the doors of opportunity that are open at this time.

Your generous and timely gift is tax deductible.

 

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.