Blackburn was appointed a member of the President's Council on Bioethics in 2002. She supported human embryonic cell research, in opposition to the Bush Administration. Her Council terms were terminated by White House directive on 27 February 2004. Dr. Blackburn believes that she was dismissed from the Council due to her disapproval of the Bush administration's position against stem cell research. This was followed by expressions of outrage over her removal by many scientists, 170 of whom signed an open letter to the president maintaining that she was fired because of political opposition to her advice.