Wesley J. Smith

Is abortion a moral issue? I say yes. The unborn child is a living human being, albeit in the developing stage. Some say no, that the fetus is no more meaningful morally than a tumor.  Indeed, a few have called it a parasite.Those who think abortion is no big deal may still be bothered by this . . . . Continue Reading »

Back in 2007, former Robert Reich told an audience at UC Berkeley what an “honest” presidential candidate would tell the country that health care reform would require.First, young people will have to pay more for their health insurance.  No question there under Obamacare, because . . . . Continue Reading »

The health insurance industry has issued a report warning that under the current Senate version of Obamacare, the cost of private insurance will soar, apparently because the coverage requirement aspect has been weakened significantly.  From the story:The study, done by PricewaterhouseCoopers . . . . Continue Reading »

Earlier this year, I did a podcast interview with Kevin Allen, who runs a very fine feature on Ancient Faith Radio called The Illumined Heart.  It mostly dealt with human exceptionalism, and it has now been abridged (with my permission) into a written Q and A in Salvo magazine.  From the . . . . Continue Reading »

The health care stories out of the UK are getting worse and worse.  Most First Thoughts readers have probably never heard of the “”Liverpool Care Pathway,” a palliative regime being adopted by hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices throughout the UK, under which dying . . . . Continue Reading »

The UK’s Liverpool Care Pathway has apparently killed its first (reported) victim.  The Pathway treats dying patients as members of a category instead of as individuals. Rather than give patients the individualized treatment their respective symptoms and conditions warrant, the Pathway . . . . Continue Reading »

I have long believed that the contentious issue of abortion funding could scuttle Obamacare. Proponents know that too, of course, and have played a game of hide the ball to pretend that abortion won’t be funded.They deny the subterfuge.  But there is a way to be sure; simply explicitly . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama repeatedly promised during the campaign and after his election, that he would not raise taxes on people with income under $250 K.  But the Baucus bill would impose an excise tax on “Cadillac” insurance policies as a way of subsidizing insurance for other . . . . Continue Reading »

Adult stem cells continue to demonstrate remarkable capacities. Now, bone marrow stem cells have been used to make a jawbone joint.  From the story:Scientists have created part of the jaw joint in the lab using human adult stem cells. They say it is the first time a complex, anatomically-sized . . . . Continue Reading »

Many hospitals and nursing homes in the UK have adopted something called the Liverpool Care Pathway, in which dying patients are sedated—whether or not they need it to control unrelievable pain, apparently—and then denied food and water until death.Currently about 16.5  percent of . . . . Continue Reading »