Wesley J. Smith

The blood family of child abuse victim Haleigh Poutre wants justice for the near dehydration of Haleigh—who doctors said was in a PVS, but who can apparently now talk. There are complications about the family that I don’t want to get into, e.g., the mother lost her parental rights after . . . . Continue Reading »

I was interviewed for an hour by Derek Gilbert yesterday on KSSZ about transhumanism, post humanity, and genetic enhancement of our progeny. We discuss transhumanism as religion, its obsession with control, and its threat to human exceptionalism. I quote James Hughes’ assertion from Citizen . . . . Continue Reading »

The BBC has a very disturbing report that newborn infants may be being killed in the Ukraine to harvest their stem cells. This follows hard on the heels of another story that women in the Ukraine are paid $200 to get pregnant for purposes of aborting at 8 weeks gestation to harvest stem . . . . Continue Reading »

What were the operators of Hope Hospice of Southwest Florida thinking? A few weeks ago, they applied for a license to operate a funeral home. This was wrong on so many levels. But, at least for now, the attempt to combine end-of-life care with post life funeral arrangements is off.Special kudos to . . . . Continue Reading »

Does it matter morally that a “being” is human? And what does it mean exactly, to be human? The jihad aside, these may be the most important questions facing us in the 21st Century. Which is why we spend so much time here at Secondhand Smoke discussing the question of human . . . . Continue Reading »

Animal liberationists in the UK have found another way to illegally harrass legitimate businesses that properly use animals for human benefit. Apparently, they file phony administrative documents (akin to bankruptcy in the USA), which can affect credit, banking relationships, and other business . . . . Continue Reading »

Animal liberationists are mobilizing against plans to conduct Ebola virus research on gorillas in the wild. “This shocking plan to use gorillas so crassly reflects the supremicist mindset of human beings and demonstrates why it would be better if humankind had never evolved,” an outraged . . . . Continue Reading »

The discussion about selecting embryos to have a disability reminded me of a column I have in my files written by the syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman in January 1980. It is a good reminder of how if we are willing to look, we can see the slippery slope literally slip-sliding away.In “Making . . . . Continue Reading »

I have my pronounced differences with University of Pennsylvania bioethicist and media commentator, Art Caplan, particularly regarding the Schiavo case and ESCR/SCNT. But he is right about this: Over at the AJOB blog, Caplan calls the drive to legalize eugenic infanticide, “euthanasia driven . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t get it. Rick Weiss of the Washington Post has written that people remain wary of eating genetically altered food. Many want nothing to do with meat or milk from cloned animals. Yet, majorities of people would willingly have cells created from embryonic stem cells taken from other human . . . . Continue Reading »