Wesley J. Smith

I make a lot of speeches, and in recent years I have been warning many of my audiences that serious efforts are afoot to grant animals “human” rights, including the right to bring lawsuits as “persons.” (This is one of the goals of the “Great Ape Project,” for . . . . Continue Reading »

When I read the transcript of this puff radio report from the Netherlands on the 5th anniversary of the formal legalization of euthanasia in that country (it has actually been permitted since 1973), I saw red. Dr. Herbert Hendin, has pointed out in his fine book Seduced by Death, that Dutch doctors . . . . Continue Reading »

In his book Seduced by Death , Herbert Hendin reported that one reason the Dutch people have not turned against their euthanasia law is that doctors and the media in Holland do not candidly report about the many abuses and violations of the law that occur with regard to their country’s . . . . Continue Reading »

If this works in animal testing, it could be a great breakthrough in the treatment of heart disease. Scientists have taken stem cells from bone marrow and, using a scaffold, engineered them into new heart valves. From the story in the Guardian:Growing a suitably-sized piece of tissue from a . . . . Continue Reading »

Take this story as just one example: Scientists have used bacterial enzymes to convert one blood type into another, potentially ending the threat of blood shortages. There is a lot going on out there that is entirely laudable and has nothing whatsoever to do with embryonic stem cell research or . . . . Continue Reading »

The Worst of Evils: The Fight Against Pain by Thomas Dormandy Yale University Press, 560 pages, $35 In 1983, my father, who was dying of colon cancer, underwent surgery. When I visited him after the procedure, I was aghast to find him lying in bed, clearly in agony, pressing an ice pack against his . . . . Continue Reading »

The last several years have been quite eventful in the field of biotechnology. President Bush was castigated for modest restrictions on federal funding of human ESCR and his policy is on the brink of being overturned. Several countries outlawed all human cloning. Some, like the UK moved full speed . . . . Continue Reading »

L.A. Daily News columnist Bridget Johnson has written a splendid column pointing out some of the many flaws with legalizing assisted suicide. Here is a sampling:Invariably, when society decides that some life is less valuable, less worth caring for, than other life, the results can be disastrous. . . . . Continue Reading »

This New York Times story about the poor treatment received by the elderly at the hands of long term health care insurers is important. From the story:Tens of thousands of elderly Americans have received life-prolonging care as a result of their long-term-care policies. With more than eight million . . . . Continue Reading »

In less than a year when I began keeping track, visitors to Secondhand Smoke have increased from 10,000 to the just hit 15,000-plus visitors each month. I am most pleased. Granted, it isn’t a Little Green Footballs or a Daily Kos, but I am happy. The issues with which we grapple here are among . . . . Continue Reading »