Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 13018: Amending Executive Order No. 12975

President: Bill Clinton

Expanded the National Bioethics Advisory Commission from 15 to 18 members.

Status: Completed/expired. Is Executive Order 13018 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13018 is completed or expired. See Federal Register record.

What does Executive Order 13018 do?

EO 13018 increased the authorized membership of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission from 15 to 18 without changing its advisory powers. A later White House order extended the commission’s charter until October 2001. Its final report, Ethical and Policy Issues in Research Involving Human Participants, was dated August 2001 and recommended stronger protections for research participants. The membership amendment did not itself change human-subject research regulations, and the report’s recommendations were not automatically law.

Administration position: The order changed the size of an advisory commission; it did not alter research regulations or make commission recommendations legally binding.
SignedSeptember 16, 1996
Previous membership15
New membership18

Before and after

Before the order

EO 12975 authorized 15 members.

After the order

The commission could include three additional members during its research and reporting work.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
PresidentAppoint up to 18 membersDuring commission life
CommissionContinue bioethics review and reportingCompleted

What happened next

EO 12975 created the commission.

EO 13018 expanded authorized membership.

A later order extended the charter until October 3, 2001.

The extended charter ended.