Wesley J. Smith

The Medicare “mandatory counseling” controversy in the Obamacare debate laid bare a realistic fear that compensated counseling under Medicare could easily become subtle (or not so subtle) persuasion to refuse treatment—particularly since the primary point of the clause is to cut . . . . Continue Reading »

The rush to pass health care reform has been slowed by mostly just criticisms of an overly ambitious, almost incomprehensible bill, that could well lead to health care rationing as it also breaks the bank.  When they thought they could shove this boondoggle down out throats with little . . . . Continue Reading »

I have no idea how this works, but Secondhand Smoke (and the other First Things blogs) are now available on Amazon’s Kindle.  I guess for the very modest price Amazon charges, it is downloaded to the device so you can read it when you are at the beach.  In any event, here is the . . . . Continue Reading »

Imagine if President Bush had appointed as a high adviser, a man who had once advocated eugenic forced abortion and the sterilization of people in developing countries.  Congress would have held angry hearings!  The press would have been at his house every morning demanding answers!  . . . . Continue Reading »

The “cash for clunkers” program, which paid $4500 to consumers who traded in their old gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles, has crashed and burned in less than a week.  From the story:Less than four days after launching a popular cash-for-clunkers program, the Obama . . . . Continue Reading »

I have now had the opportunity to read the Debbie Purdy court ruling. First, it is clear that it did not create a right to assisted suicide. From the judgment:26.  It must be emphasised at the outset that it is no part of our function to change the law in order to decriminalise assisted . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been doing a little reading about Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the head bioethicist at the NIH and brother of the president’s chief of staff.  He is a supporter of health care rationing, which is relevant to the current health care debate.  In a Lancet article earlier this year, he . . . . Continue Reading »

Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis—which is not generally a terminal illness—won a minor high court ruling today requiring the prosecutor to inform the public when those who facilitate suicide tourism, will be prosecuted. From the story:Terminally ill [Me: No she’s not] Miss . . . . Continue Reading »

So, here’s the problem: We have need for health care reform to permit greater portability of policies, make policies more affordable, and help people find insurance who have preexisting conditions. But instead of fixing the actual problems in the current generally well working system, . . . . Continue Reading »

File this under the radical company Obama keeps. Decades before Cass Sunstein, the nominated regulations czar, proposed that animals be allowed to sue their owners , the science adviser supported trees being given legal standing to sue in order to improve the environment!  More over at . . . . Continue Reading »