Wesley J. Smith

Some bioethicists believe we all have a duty to be experimented on. The nature of this duty takes several forms, for example there is a the utilitarian view that we must as individuals subsume our own desires to promote the greater good.  Three bioethicists, writing in JAMA, (G. Owen . . . . Continue Reading »

The Duty to Die goes into effect under Obamacare:PETA’s “Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign Doesn’t Seem to be Going Too . . . . Continue Reading »

This article has me queasy. Yes, the writers concede that the moral obligation they seek to establish should not be legally enforceable. Yes, they reject more radical proposals that would require all individuals to sacrifice their individual interests to promote the “greater good.”  . . . . Continue Reading »

A very good opinion piece,written by a physician and bioethicist, Dr. Bob Orr, appeared in the current AM News, which is published by the AMA.  From the column:The right of conscience in medicine generated very little discussion prior to the current generation. In the 1960s and ’70s, . . . . Continue Reading »

An article,  “Watching Whales Watching Us,” the cover story in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, illustrated how profoundly anthropomorphic writers about the natural world are becoming.  This is the quote that caught my eye: Somehow the more we learn about whales, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Now I have seen everything. Opponents of assisted suicide have vociferously criticized the puff piece biopic being produced by HBO and starring Al Pacino—and who do the media quote in a story about the criticism?  Supporters of assisted suicide, including Derek Humphry!  From the . . . . Continue Reading »

Did it start with Jane Goodall? The enterprising anthropologist didn’t just report her amazingly detailed observations of chimpanzees. She pursued an ideology by giving the chimps internal lives and thoughts in her writing in order to make them seem more human.Now, that approach is all the . . . . Continue Reading »

You just knew “the lawyers” would jump right on the animals-being-allowed-to-sue bandwagon.HT: A comment on a crudely named blog quoting my Weekly Standard piece on plant rights, The “Silent Scream of the Asparagus,” rather than the current article discussing Obama appointee . . . . Continue Reading »

I wrote previously here at SHS of my disgust with the book Larry’s Kidney—which of course wasn’t Larry’s at all, but that of a Chinese political, criminal, or Falun Gong prisoner—who was killed for the lucre that the book’s author, Daniel Asa Rose. paid to obtain . . . . Continue Reading »

Since I am self promotion mode today, I thought I would post this less than two minute promo for the CBC-produced documentary, Lines That Divide. It offers, I think, a good and quick overview of the ESCR . . . . Continue Reading »