The Ethics of Science (washingtonpost.com)

"The Ethics of Science" is an editorial in today's Washington Post, continuing its coverage of the President's Council on Bioethics. I was disappointed by the following statement:

"The president's policy, while perhaps well-intentioned, has neither allowed good research to continue nor prevented science from going down the "slippery slope" it was already headed toward."

I don't think there is reason to doubt that the president is well intentioned. That shot seems to weaken the point of the editorial, with which I agree:

"The policy must be reexamined -- and in an atmosphere of total honesty about what the scientific and moral consequences of new funding and regulatory decisions will be. The President's Council on Bioethics is still one of the few institutions that could offer advice. Its chairman, its members and the Bush administration must bend even further backward to prove that they really do intend to take all views into account."