Rebecca Bennett

Rebecca Bennett is a Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, affiliated with the School of Law. She currently serves as Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning (Distance Learning) in the Faculty of Humanities. Her academic career spans over three decades, specializing in bioethics and medical law, with a focus on reproductive ethics, genetic screening, and disability rights.

Professor Bennett pioneered the LLM/MA/PGCert/PGDiploma in Healthcare Ethics and Law as one of the first fully online distance learning programs in the university. She also leads a CPD course in Medical Decision-Making: Ethics and Law, accredited by the Royal College of Physicians. Her teaching excellence was recognized with a 2022 award for Educational Leadership and Digital Delivery.

Research Interests include the ethics of prenatal testing (e.g., NIPT for Down’s syndrome), newborn bloodspot screening, transgender healthcare ethics, and critiques of Procreative Beneficence. She advocates for ethical terminology reform to reduce stigma around disability and opposes eugenic interpretations of genetic screening.

Her recent work includes a 2025 book The Welfare of Future Children: Reproductive Ethics and Disability Screening and articles challenging bioethical language (Cambridge Quarterly) and supporting gene editing (American Journal of Bioethics). She co-led a project on antenatal information for newborn screening (2013–2016) and advises media on ethical issues, including the BBC documentary A World Without Down’s Syndrome?

She chairs a healthcare ethics discussion group on Facebook and contributes to free MOOCs on disability screening ethics. Her work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals addressing health equity and ethical governance.