When President Bush appointed Leon Kass to lead the President’s Council on Bioethics, the mainstream of the bioethics movement howled. Kass believes in intrinsic human dignity—and that is anathema to the predominate view. “Stacked deck,” they screamed. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Canadian novelist Randy Boyagoda recently published a fine and substantive discussion of the thought of Richard John Neuhaus in the July/August issue of THE WALRUS: ” Spiritual Citizenship: The life and times of Richard John Neuhaus .” It’s available online and well worth . . . . Continue Reading »
I recently wrote about the death of Jayne Murdock in Montana, who wanted assisted suicide but found no doctor willing to lethally prescribe. I was and am pleased with that—which is not to say that I didn’t want her to receive the best of care, or course I did—because . . . . Continue Reading »
We’ve had heavy rain in North Carolina this week and also, in the high country, dense fog. My mother, the children, and I discovered the latter while driving the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which rides the spine of the southern Appalachians, just below the Virginia state line. . . . . Continue Reading »
Earlier this week, members of the President’s Council on Bioethics were told by the White House that their services were no longer needed. President Obama’s decision was made and implemented in his typical style—gracious, pragmatic, and imprudent. According to the New York Times , . . . . Continue Reading »
Irena’s Vow is a striking contrast to the gilded nihilism and glitzy escapism that marks much of Broadway. “I hung a sign on my heart and nerves,” says Irena ( Tovah Feldshuh ), looking back over her young adulthood. “Do not disturb.” It is easy to see why. For the memories . . . . Continue Reading »
I have been warning this was coming, that the assurances from “the scientists” that eggs would not be commodified for cloning were false. New York State is going to permit would-be human cloners up to $10,000 to conduct human cloning as part of its $600 million taxpayer funded . . . . Continue Reading »
“Stop telling us what to do.” . . . . Continue Reading »
Ah, the glories of sexual liberation: On television, the Italian penchant for adorning soundstages with skimpily clad, surgically enhanced showgirls has radically metastasized, spilling over from game shows to all forms of entertainment, including the nightly news . . . . The notion of women as . . . . Continue Reading »
Every time you turn around, scientists discover new and ethical sources of stem cells—now from fallopian tubes removed during hysterectomies. From the story:Discarded fallopian tubes from hysterectomies could be a good source of donor stem cells, say researchers. Work shows . . . . Continue Reading »
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