Baroness Ruth Deech to discuss 'Women, Ethics and Embryos'

Baroness Ruth Deech of Cumnor, a legal ethicist, will discuss the ethical impediments and imperatives of working in embryo research, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in the Oak Lounge of Tresidder Union. The event, which is cosponsored by the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, is free and open to the public.

A graduate of Oxford and Brandeis universities, Deech was a tutorial fellow in law at her alma mater, St. Anne's College, Oxford, from 1970 to 1991, when she was elected principal of the college, a post she held until 2004. Deech also was a deputy vice-chancellor of Oxford and had special responsibilities for admissions, equal opportunities (in particular for childcare) and student welfare. From 1994 to 2002, Deech served as chair of the United Kingdom's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, a legal body established to monitor all IVF treatment and embryo research in Britain. Under her leadership, stem cell research in the United Kingdom was legalized and regulated. Deech has lectured on stem cell research at universities in the United States, Israel and Britain and is a frequent television and radio commentator.

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