Wesley J. Smith

I have a rather long piece on NRO about the worsening and widening euthanasia license in the Netherlands, Belgium (especially!), and Switzerland—and what accepting euthanasia consciousness does to a nation’s moral fiber.  Anyone interested can read the whole thing by hitting the . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been warning anyone who will listen that ”animal standing” is one of the most potentially destructive animal rights agenda items. Animal standing advocates hope to change the law so that animals can sue their owners in their own names, which of . . . . Continue Reading »

I think many of the political and ethical arguments today, whether in bioethics, tax policy, or other issues roiling society—boil down to a fundamental dispute between what is meant by “equality.”  Some (me included) believe it means equal opportunity (American . . . . Continue Reading »

Imagine a private insurance company stating that it would, in the future, sharply limit payment for hospital stays regardless of need because it had money problems.  Political leaders would call CEOs to Washington demanding answers.  Regulators would threaten huge fines.  The lawsuits . . . . Continue Reading »

The headline is hyperbole, for all you literalists out there—and you know who you are.  But I think Jacob Sullum is right that we seem to be in danger of medicating “boyhood.”  From the Reason article, “Pediatrician Group Seeks to Boost ADHD Diagnosis:” This . . . . Continue Reading »

There’s a great deal of push within the organ transplant community and bioethics to loosen the rules of organ donation.  This is profoundly unwise because it will, in my view, erode the trust people currently have in the organ transplant system.  ‘But that’s not what I . . . . Continue Reading »

This is appalling.  A posthumous biography of Steve Jobs is out and it reveals that he had a relatively slow growing pancreatic cancer—and rather than having immediate surgery and standardized treatment, he tried instead to cure himself with a vegan diet and other similar nonsense!  . . . . Continue Reading »

There is an old Jewish saying: “If you save a life, you’ve saved the world.”  If that is true, the Alliance Defense Fund has saved many worlds, preventing profoundly cognitively disabled people from being intentionally dehydrated to death by having tube-supplied sustenance . . . . Continue Reading »

An abortion/medical conscience controversy is riling the decidedly pro choice state of Washington, presaging what I think will become one of our own most contentious bioethical controversies.  The issue involves the existence and extent of “conscience rights” for . . . . Continue Reading »

Reason magazine’s science writer, Ron Bailey, has long been in the thrall of transhumanism.  (We debated once at CUNY).  He has swallowed the immortality project without even chewing and has baptized himself in the scientism neo-faith that The Singularity will usher in a new era of . . . . Continue Reading »