Wesley J. Smith

Here are a few more of the photos I took during my recent sojourn to the British Isle.A view from Edinburgh Castle over the city to the extinct volcano just outside of town:I was taken with the color coordination between the (rare) blue sky of Edinburgh and the gray statue on top of an Edinburgh . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t remember a more vivid case of tricky legislating than the attempt to shove Obamacare down the collective throat.  And here’s the latest example. The Senate version of Obamacare is actually an unrelated House Bill that has already passed the Lower Chamber.  From the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Senate version of Obamacare is actually an already-passed House Bill, HR 3590.  Why a House Bill?  By gutting the passed bill and substituting the Obamacare plan, it could avoid a conference committee.  If the bill passed, it would go back to the House, and if it passed without . . . . Continue Reading »

Major changes in the new Senate Obamacare bill from its House counterpart, in the sections involving assisted suicide.  (The bill is actually a gutted and already passed bill from the House—HR 3590—a trick that may be designed to get around the necessity of a conference . . . . Continue Reading »

I have a long piece out in this month’s First Things on the conscience clause issue.  I believe that the Culture of Death brooks no dissent and we are witnessing the beginning of requirements for health care professionals to either participate in medical procedures that end human . . . . Continue Reading »

The Senate version of Obamacare will tax elective cosmetic surgery. From the story:The bill levies a 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. The provision raises $5 billion and was needed to make the numbers work, according to a Democratic Senate aide. The Finance Committee considered the tax . . . . Continue Reading »

Each fall the CBC asks me to predict what will happen in the coming year in bioethics/biotechnology. To say the least, I have a mixed record.  I was more worried about 2009 than turned out to be warranted by events especially about assisted suicide which moved the ball not at all in the . . . . Continue Reading »

South Australia has rejected legalizing euthanasia as an MP had a last minute change of heart. From the story:A bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia in South Australia has been defeated in State Parliament when a supporter had a late change of heart. A conscience vote was poised to finish at 10-all . . . . Continue Reading »

The year 2009 amounted to a very good year against assisted suicide in the USA.  Despite the Washington initiative and a Montana judge’s activist legalization of assisted suicide, all legislative attempts in several states to legalize assisted suicide were blocked.  The latest . . . . Continue Reading »

A court decision in a case against the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) describes why its members (and, by extension animal liberation criminals such as, ALF, SHAC, etc.) deserve to be called terrorists.  From the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision U.S. v Christianson,  starting at page 12 . . . . Continue Reading »