Here is Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life: “If [the revocation of the Mexico City policy] is one of the first acts of President Obama, with all due respect, it seems to me that the path towards disappointment will have been very short.” . . . . Continue Reading »
The Italian Jewish community is divided over relations with Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church, reports the veteran Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister at his website . In a January 14 post I reported on the Italian rabbis’ decision to boycott the annual Catholic-Jewish relations day scheduled . . . . Continue Reading »
Two states have had assisted suicide bills introduced; Hawaii and New Hampshire. Hawaii’s law requires a suicide “monitor” to be present at the death—which in practice would often be an assisted suicide ideologue, such as the “counselors” who work with Compassion . . . . Continue Reading »
A correspondent—who is a disability rights activist—alerted me to SB 1142, a proposal in Virginia to overhaul its law concerning advance directives. There are several things in the bill that concern me, but she wrote worrying that it would open the door to experimenting on the . . . . Continue Reading »
An unusual situation has arisen in Australia involving an ethical complication arising out of IVF. A woman and her fiance` created embryos via IVF. She was impregnated but then died in an auto crash. Now the grandmother of the remaining embryos may sue to prevent the father from bringing his . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the most telling but least commented upon lines in President Obama’s inaugural speech was his promise to “restore science to its proper place”. Since he doesn’t expand upon this restoration in the remainder of the speech it’s not immediately obvious what this . . . . Continue Reading »
The book War Against the Weak is the best history of the eugenics movement ever written. (Here is my take that appeared in National Review.) Now, there is a new documentary about to be released—War Against the Weak—The Movie. (Hit this link to see a trailerFor SHSers in Southern . . . . Continue Reading »
I was pleased to have been interviewed by Daniel Herbster for AdvanceUSA about my views on bioethics and human exceptionalism. I thought I would post a few exerpts here, along with the link, for anyone interested in reading the whole thing. First, I was asked why bioethical issues are so important. . . . . Continue Reading »
So far, I’ve been reluctant to enter the torture debate. That’s not because it isn’t important (it is) or because I’m unsure of my views (I oppose torture). Rather, this issue has encouraged the tendency of the blogosphere to generate more heat than light. The public . . . . Continue Reading »
Edgar Allan Poe’s bicentennial birthday passed unremarked by this publication January 19. For the most part I considered Poe useful mainly as a horrible example of how not to write. Every so often, though, something characteristic took shape in his odd imagination. One of his lesser-known . . . . Continue Reading »
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