Twenty years of FAB: Gestation through adolescence

How did Anne Donchin and I (“Becky”) dream up, invent, or rather, conceive, FAB? It’s a strange story. We first met each other in 1984 in Sweden at a meeting of FINRET, a group soon to change its name to FINRRAGE (the Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering). Anne came experienced in philosophy and women’s studies; I came with degrees in biology and the experience of directing the EIRTAW conference in 1979 (Ethical Issues in Reproductive Technology: Analysis by Women). We shared many common interests and concerns: methods and policies that were rather wanting in ethics; development and expansion of the new reproductive technologies by men, even though women give birth; and, sadly missing, women’s analyses in every and all areas of bioethics.

So we conceived—let’s call it—an embryo. Gestation lasted until birth in 1992, when we named it FAB (the International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics). FAB in the nursery stage opened with an invitational letter: Anne sent it to feminist scholars whom she knew and to many women who had attended my EIRTAW conference. The vision in our letter was “to develop a more inclusive theory of bioethics encompassing the experiences of women and other marginalized social groups, to examine how the principles that dominate the prevailing discourse may favor those already empowered, to create new methodologies and strategies, and to look closely at the legitimizing functions of mainstream bioethics” (Donchin 1993, 1).

The response was remarkable. There was enthusiastic interest and a wealth of ideas: the great need for such a project, many suggestions for approaches (for gathering people, for methods of analysis), and specific topics that must be included. Spontaneous feminism. These letters were skillfully summarized by Anne in the first issue of our Newsletter (1–2). Most of these letters are saved in FAB’s archives.

Anne then learned about the just-forming IAB (International Association of Bioethics) that would hold its first Congress in October 1992, in Amsterdam (Donchin 2008, 146). She traveled there (I couldn’t go), and she got permission from IAB to announce a gathering. She, and leaders from other potential subgroups, were each given a small corner of an auditorium. This launched the nursery. Selma Sevenhuijsen volunteered to be Country Rep for the Netherlands (Donchin 1993, 2; 2008, 146).

Then in 1994 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, fifteen FAB members played active roles in a concurrent meeting of four U.S. bioethics societies. Our members spoke in several sessions on feminist bioethics and women’s health. An informal gathering of FAB members provided much-valued feedback on policies and future goals. For example, responding to a suggestion that we initiate a FAB listserv, Netherlander Corinne Bekker volunteered to set it up at the University of Utrecht (Holmes and Rorty 1995, 3–4).¹

Now, briefly, I’ll describe components of our jointly devised ideology on forming and setting up FAB. One is: no hierarchism but egalitarianism. We didn’t want an organization in which some people ranked over others. So, to make a title for ourselves, we chose coordinator. That implies that there’s a person working with and for others, both servant and leader at once. With two coordinators, even more egalitarianism. This seems to be continuing well, especially now, as we become more international; the current co-coordinators come from different nations. And members who volunteer for very responsible jobs in keeping FAB running are invaluable, but still have non-hierarchical titles. Alas, some can be overworked, such as editor or treasurer. An advisory council was set up in 1997, and later its name was changed to board (Donchin 1997, 1; 2008, 149). We also appointed a diverse nominating committee to propose board members. Instead of voting, we are invited to affirm their nominations (my biased view is that the unconscionable mess of the U.S. elections ought to adopt aspects of FAB’s procedures).

Another component, another facet of egalitarianism: no qualifications to join. In the beginning, members did not need to have any degrees or any professional status, but simply...