With Thanksgiving just passed, and Christmas and the New Year fast approaching, we here at the CBC Network are taking stock and counting the many reasons we’re especially thankful this year. We have an internal cheer that this is a ‘year of abundance’ for us, and we’re grateful for the many, many opportunities we have to promote human dignity and protect the least of these.

I imagine for you this also is a time of reflection, to stop and be mindful of all that we have in abundance—friends, family, health, jobs, and so much more! While you’re busy counting your blessings, please know that the CBC team is thankful for your partnership with us and for your help in the momentous successes over this past year.

I just reviewed the last twelve months in my calendar, and I cannot even begin to elaborate on all of the unexpected doors that have been opened to us. Not only did the CBC team fly close to 200,000 air miles, we found ourselves in diverse places, uniquely called to fill important roles, often alongside other groups and organizations.

A glimpse of the breadth and depth of our efforts this past year include:

  • Testifying before the Kansas State Senate
  • Seeing a veto from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on a bill that would have legalized surrogacy in his state
  • Speaking to the Gates-Cambridge alumni
  • Releasing our new film Breeders: A Subclass of Women?, screening it in more than 10 states, and an international screening at the European Parliament
  • Expanding our international reach through foreign translations of our films
  • Lecturing at conferences across the country—from D.C. to Alabama, Montana, and beyond
  • Traveling to Rome for an international ecumenical colloquium
  • Speaking at the Evangelical Theological Society
  • Writing for many outlets, including First Things, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Public Discourse, The Federalist, and others
  • Hosting a year full of meeting with our Paul Ramsey Institute Scholars and Fellows, shaping the next generation of thought leaders in bioethics
  • Having our work featured in the New York Times, ABC Nightline, the New York Post, and many other television and news outlets

When we pause and stop to reflect on these many important opportunities, we know that this would not be possible without your support.

Where will CBC be in 2015? Much of our calendar is now taking shape. Already it includes delivering the Jefferson Society talk at the University of Virginia, speaking again to the Blackstone Legal Interns, our annual Paul Ramsey Dinner (April 18, save that date!), writing on bioethics for college textbooks and lay-level curriculum, and more.

We have many film screenings still to come, and we will soon be releasing French and Japanese translations of Breeders. In fact, I am set to travel to France to screen Breeders? at a conference on the importance of family, and meet with others in Europe who are concerned about bioethics issues in their countries. With more and more international opportunities like these, our work is having an increasingly global reach. All this is just the tip of the 2015 iceberg.

Thank you again for your generosity and support and prayers.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you from all of us at the CBC!

Jennifer Lahl
President,
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network

PS — None of this would be possible without your support. Your gift now helps to ensure that we are able to build on the momentum of 2014, and take full advantage of the abundance of opportunities that will come our way in 2015. Please give now.

 

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.