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November 7, 2012

Bioethics and Human Rights Subject of 2012 Human Rights Day Celebration

A group of distinguished speakers will discuss issues surrounding bioethics and human rights at a panel held in honor of international Human Rights Day at the Library of Congress at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6. The event will be held in the Mumford Room, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. Sponsored in part by the Friends of the Law Library of Congress, the event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.

Moderated by Law Librarian of Congress David Mao, the panel will include Erin Williams of MITRE Corporation; Gerald Schatz, an affiliated scholar of Georgetown University Medical Center; and Theresa Papademetriou of the Law Library of Congress.

Williams is a principal health-policy analyst at MITRE, where she provides policy guidance at the Center for Transforming Health. She is currently the vice president of the International Society of Bioethics’ Scientific Committee. She will speak on "What Was That Form I Just Signed? Snapshot of U.S. Federal Requirements Governing Informed Consent for Medical Research."

Schatz is affiliated with the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center and is the vice-president of Citizens for Responsible Care and Research. He will discuss "Privacy Rights and Ethical Tensions in Medicine and Research."

Papademetriou is a senior foreign law specialist with the Global Legal Research Center at the Law Library of Congress. Her jurisdictional focus is the European Union, Greece, Cyprus and the Council of Europe. She will discuss "A Human Rights Dimension of Informed Consent: Sterilization of Women in Europe."

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted and proclaimed in Paris, on Dec. 10, 1948. The UDHR was designed to provide a global framework for human rights following World War II and the colonial era. The UDHR, the first global enunciation of human rights, is considered the most translated document in modern history. It is available in more than 360 languages, and new translations are still being added.

Each year the Law Library celebrates Human Rights Day with a panel discussion focusing on a different aspect of human rights.

The Law Library was established in 1832 with the mission to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. government and the global legal community and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. With more than 5 million items in various formats, the Law Library contains the world’s largest collection of law books and other resources from all countries and provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at www.loc.gov/law/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.

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PR 12-208
11/07/12
ISSN 0731-3527

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