The oldest bioethics research institution in Britain is to close due to lack of funding, it has been announced.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre began life as the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics in 1977. In 2010 it was re-named in honour of the Catholic philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe, who devoted much of her work to questions surrounding contraception, abortion and euthanasia.
In a statement, the centre said, “It is with immense sadness we announce that staff have recently been informed of ‘the closure of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford’. This decision has been made on financial grounds by the Centre’s Corporate Trustee, the Catholic Trust for England and Wales.”
The centre, while not directly controlled by the Catholic Church, has long been supported by it as well as by private donations. Its research and work has always attempted to answer bioethical questions of life and death in a way that aligns with Catholic moral teaching.
As well as conducting research, the centre has contributed to public debate over the years and been an important source of education on bioethics via seminars, conferences and lectures for clergymen, lay people and health professionals.
The group has also attempted to provide useful resources on bioethical issues, and indeed, following the announcement of its closure, it is hoped that this is the area where the centre will leave a substantial legacy.
In its statement it said, “It is the earnest hope of staff at the Centre that some means may be found to continue to make available the resources that the Centre has generated, and also to continue the vital work of bioethical research and education that fully respects the dignity of the human person.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, responding to the news, said that "a wide range of national and international options to secure the Centre’s continuation, including university partnerships and professional fundraising support, were explored".
"Unfortunately, the various approaches proved unable to secure the Centre’s future," it said.
It praised the work of the centre, saying, “We wish to further express gratitude for the internationally renowned work of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre and for all those who have served its mission over the past 48 years.
“The Bishops will continue passionately to defend the intrinsic dignity of human life from conception to natural death, and, where appropriate, will consult with leading Catholic bioethicists on matters of shared concern," it said.
