Wesley J. Smith

Intrepid readers of SHS will recall that I wrote about a study—based on interviews with family members—showing that some patients received lethal prescriptions before experiencing serious symptoms—out of worry about future potential pain or loss of dignity. This flies right in the . . . . Continue Reading »

I write often here about animal rights, most often to decry the violence in the movement. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the perfectly legal methods liberationists also apply to end the domestic use of all animals.One of the most effective, is to focus attention on a few discreet alleged . . . . Continue Reading »

The Medical Conventional Wisdom bites the dust . . . . Continue Reading »

I was happy last November to report that we were up to 20,000 visitors a month here as SHS. Well, since then, thanks to you all, we’ve passed the 25,000 mark. I am most grateful.The issues we discuss here are often overlooked or given short shrift in the mainstream media. That’s the . . . . Continue Reading »

The media like to portray opponents of assisted suicide as almost all conservative, religious, and pro life on abortion. That has never been true. Medical professional organizations—which are secular and support abortion rights—have always opposed legalization. Disability rights . . . . Continue Reading »

I have written about Haleigh Poutre nationally and several times here at SHS (here, here, here as examples), but this bears repetition until it finally sinks in. Scenario: Child badly beaten. Within a week or so Haleigh’s doctors write her off as in a persistent vegetative state. She will . . . . Continue Reading »

In Liberalism’s Troubled Search for Equality , Robert P. Jones takes the measure of contemporary assisted-suicide advocacy through a distinctly liberal lens. He has impeccable credentials for this task: He is the director and senior fellow at the progressive think tank Center for American . . . . Continue Reading »

If anyone thought that the international death with dignity crowd would allow Washington voters to decide for themselves whether to legalize assisted suicide, they were living in a fantasy world. The campaign was barely born last November and the Oregon Death with Dignity Political Action Committee . . . . Continue Reading »

Oregon has been trying to insure the uninsured in the state who do not qualify for its (rationed) Medicaid program. So many people want to sign up for subsidized insurance that the state his holding a lottery. From the story: Oregon is conducting a one-of-a-kind lottery, and the prize is health . . . . Continue Reading »

Here are some more important points in the newly released study, which I discussed more extensively here, that I think deserve special note. It turns out doctors have written lethal prescriptions for patients who weren’t yet suffering serious symptoms of their disease: No physical symptoms . . . . Continue Reading »