2026 Flanigan Lecture
Healthcare in an Era of Mass Deportation: Values, Ethics, and Narratives
The Speaker
Dr. Kuczewski is a Professor of Medical Ethics and the Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy at Loyola University Chicago and a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. He created the Sanctuary Doctoring program to provide resources to physicians to support their immigrant patients. He was also the catalyst for Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine becoming the first medical school in the nation to welcome applications from DACA recipients.
More Information
For more information about this fun event, please use our contact us form or contact Abby Gast-Watterson at abbygw@practicalbioethics.org or 816.221.1100. Thank you.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Reception & refreshments at 6:00 PM
Lecture begins at 7:00 PM
Attendance in person OR via livestream
In person at Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse, 9101 Nall Avenue, Prairie Village, KS 66207
Free and open to the public | Donations welcome
As mass deportation reshapes the landscape of American healthcare, doctors, nurses, and institutions face an urgent question: what do we owe the communities we serve when policy and professional duty collide?
Dr. Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD will explore how the healing professions’ core commitment to human dignity is being tested — and what’s at stake for patients, providers, and the values that define medicine itself.
Past Events
The Breakfast of Champions, the Center’s annual fundraiser, is Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 7:30-9:30 am at Sporting Park, home of the Sporting KC soccer team in Kansas City. The Center for Practical Bioethics
Screening Bioethics is a webinar series exploring bioethics topics in popular media with hosts Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, and Nanette Elster, JD, MPH. In the second episode they will examine and discuss ethical issues at the end of life in three recent shows on television. This 45-minute exploration will be followed by a 15-minute Q & A. The Center for Practical Bioethics.
Screening Bioethics is a webinar series exploring bioethics topics in popular media with hosts Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, and Nanette Elster, JD, MPH. In the first episode they will examine the HBO Max’s, The Pitt, with emphasis on portrayal of bioethics issues, with particular attention to neurodiversity, end-of-life care, and access. This 30-minute exploration will be followed by a 15-minute Q & A. The Center for Practical Bioethics.
Join us on Nov. 12, 2025 for the 31st Annual Flanigan Lecture, Reflections from an Imperfect Art: Jazz, Medical Ethics, and the Moral Practice of Medicine presented by the Center for Practical Bioethics. Dr. Patrick T. Smith, a leading voice in bioethics and theology, will explore how jazz—born from struggle and creativity—offers powerful metaphors for justice, equity, and the moral practice of medicine.
The Center for Practical Bioethics invites you to the Breakfast of Champions, our annual fundraiser. Thursday, September 18, 2025 from 7:30-9:30 am at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City.
You’re invited by the Center for Practical Bioethics to AI and IPAs: A Young Professionals Networking and Learning Event on Thursday, August 28 from 4:30 – 6:30 pm at DoubleTap KC int River Market.
Monday, September 30, 2024
“Will AI Health Apps Make Us Healthier?” is the topic of the Center’s 30th Annual Rosemary Flanigan Lecture on September 30, 2024. The lecture, presented by Anita Ho, bioethicist, author, and clinical professor, will weigh the ethical pros and cons of AI in personal healthcare. Attend in-person in Kansas City or virtually on YouTube.
Please join us on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at The Abbott in KCMO. Keynote Speaker is Daniela Lamas, MD.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Join us for a “fireside chat” and mingle with the expert leaders of services to help healthcare organizations integrate ethics into all facets of their organizations.
Thursday, September 21, 2023
You can hear me, but are you listening? Listening to the Patient’s Voice
Dr. Jeff Goldenberg and Naomi Kirtner, are the parents of Talia Goldenberg, who died tragically at age 23 following spinal surgery. Talia, her physician father and her mother pleaded with doctors and medical staff, urging them to recognize that Talia couldn’t breathe. Talia’s parents have a powerful story to share.
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