Wesley J. Smith

So, a new think tank, with the eye-glazing name Center for Inquiry-Transnational, has been started to promote public policy based on “science,” instead of religion. (Naturally, it got a big play in the Washington Post.) But this is nonsensical. Science is a method of obtaining and . . . . Continue Reading »

This is how I see it: Generally speaking, people want treatments for terrible diseases and injuries. They also are queasy about embryonic stem cell research and disapprove of cloning for any reason. But the yearning for cures trumps most people’s ethical concerns about ESCR, so long as they . . . . Continue Reading »

He talks! If you want to hear my first Brave New Bioethics podcast, hit this link. If you want to subscribe so that you receive them whenever they come out, simply hit this link and follow the instructions. Thank you for your interest in Secondhand Smoke and my . . . . Continue Reading »

Science is reporting that one of the seemingly intractable problems facing ESCR has been the propensity of embryonic stem cells to cause tumors, may have been solved. Researchers in Australia believe they may have found a way to prevent tumor formation by encompassing the cells in seaweed extract, . . . . Continue Reading »

Some researchers have suggested that umbilical cord blood stem cells might be as pluripotent as researchers theorize embryonic stem cells to be, that is, that they can be transformed into any kind of cell. Both theories remain unproven since it hasn’t yet been done yet with any kind of stem . . . . Continue Reading »

At least this is an issue about which most of our leaders can agree: Stopping animal rights terrorism. All except Dennis Kucinich, that is. He apparently doesn’t know the difference between peaceful protest and threats to kill, bombing, identity theft, vandalism, physical attack, and the other . . . . Continue Reading »

Organ sales also reduce human life to a commodity, a growing problem in several areas of society. And it has real consequences. This story explains vividly why it should be against the law. Poor Pakistanis were exploited for their organs and now live in ill health. Libertarians and others who see . . . . Continue Reading »

I received a very nice letter from a reader of Secondhand Smoke that I thought I would share with y’all to see what you think: She wrote in part: “I am curious to know what your stance on self-starvation is, since someone recently accused you of being a “hypocrite” (I really . . . . Continue Reading »

The Sunday Times has a story about the Church of England supposedly endorsing infant euthanasia in the wake of the proposal to permit infanticide of severely disabled babies. As you can imagine, that caught my eye! But upon reading the story, it appears that the Church has ratified the right to . . . . Continue Reading »

This editorial from Investor’s Business Daily is right on the money. Tremeondous progress is being made in adult/umbilical cord blood stem cells (which is why it gets more private funding), all but ignored by the media in their obsession to defeat the “heartless right wing Bible . . . . Continue Reading »