Wesley J. Smith

I wish I could say I was surprised.  Zurich voters rejected a referendum that would have restricted suicide clinic attendance to the Swiss.  From the story:Voters in Zurich have overwhelmingly rejected calls to ban assisted suicide or to outlaw the practice for nonresidents. Zurich’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Contested Reproduction by John H. Evans University of Chicago Press, 213 pages, $45 Is talking about controversial issues important just for the sake of talking? That question repeatedly popped into my mind as I read John H. Evans’ Contested Reproduction , a carefully researched and parsed . . . . Continue Reading »

I agree with the New York Times’ Charles Blow on the need to maintain federal  spending support for a program that pays for the drugs that fight HIV.  From his column, “H.I.V.S.O.S:”Treatment as prevention. That’s the way scientists describe a striking and . . . . Continue Reading »

The birth dearth has Germany looking for ways to induce its citizens to have more Jungen und Mädchen. Now, the government may soon offer to pay for most of the costs of IVF  as an inducement for German men and women to be fruitful and multiply. From the story:Germany is poised to start . . . . Continue Reading »

An Australian “brain dead” woman (clearly a misnomer, about which more below) was ordered removed from life support only a few weeks after suffering brain injury.  But thanks to the efforts of her family, she is now recovering.  From the story: A TERRITORIAN has woken from the . . . . Continue Reading »

A recent mouse experiment showed that IPSCs stimulate tissue rejection in mice. From the story:In an unexpected setback to efforts to harness a promising new type of stem cell to treat diseases, researchers reported on Friday that tissues made from those stem cells might be rejected by a . . . . Continue Reading »

Unbelievable. Andrew Barnes tried to access suicide tourism in Switzerland because he had been diagnosed as terminally ill. He wasn’t, and in fact, has since recovered.You’d think such a near miss would cause him some pause about the dangers of euthanasia.  After all,  if he . . . . Continue Reading »

Secondhand Smokette—no fan of Sarah Palin—has a blog out today that points out how abysmally Palin was treated when she first emerged on the national political stage.  I have said that I believe much of the irrational, spittle spewing hatred of Palin originates with the birth of . . . . Continue Reading »

The NEJM has long been off the cliff when it comes to medical ethics.  But now, it wants to sacrifice constitutionalism and representative governance on the altar of controlling healthcare costs by expanding the powers of IPAB over the entire health care sector.The misnamed Medicare Independent . . . . Continue Reading »

A link to this old 2002 interview of me by the radical transhumanist, J.  Hughes, came over the transom today.  This was recorded only shortly after I became involved with the animal rights issue and two years before I published Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World.  This was . . . . Continue Reading »