What were the operators of Hope Hospice of Southwest Florida thinking? A few weeks ago, they applied for a license to operate a funeral home. This was wrong on so many levels. But, at least for now, the attempt to combine end-of-life care with post life funeral arrangements is off.Special kudos to . . . . Continue Reading »
Does it matter morally that a “being” is human? And what does it mean exactly, to be human? The jihad aside, these may be the most important questions facing us in the 21st Century. Which is why we spend so much time here at Secondhand Smoke discussing the question of human . . . . Continue Reading »
Animal liberationists in the UK have found another way to illegally harrass legitimate businesses that properly use animals for human benefit. Apparently, they file phony administrative documents (akin to bankruptcy in the USA), which can affect credit, banking relationships, and other business . . . . Continue Reading »
Animal liberationists are mobilizing against plans to conduct Ebola virus research on gorillas in the wild. “This shocking plan to use gorillas so crassly reflects the supremicist mindset of human beings and demonstrates why it would be better if humankind had never evolved,” an outraged . . . . Continue Reading »
The discussion about selecting embryos to have a disability reminded me of a column I have in my files written by the syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman in January 1980. It is a good reminder of how if we are willing to look, we can see the slippery slope literally slip-sliding away.In “Making . . . . Continue Reading »
I have my pronounced differences with University of Pennsylvania bioethicist and media commentator, Art Caplan, particularly regarding the Schiavo case and ESCR/SCNT. But he is right about this: Over at the AJOB blog, Caplan calls the drive to legalize eugenic infanticide, “euthanasia driven . . . . Continue Reading »
I don’t get it. Rick Weiss of the Washington Post has written that people remain wary of eating genetically altered food. Many want nothing to do with meat or milk from cloned animals. Yet, majorities of people would willingly have cells created from embryonic stem cells taken from other human . . . . Continue Reading »
The woman in the UK who was ordered to receive a sleeping medication to see if she would awaken, didn’t. The UK courts have now allowed her family remove all life support, which I presume includes tube-supplied sustenance. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Center for Bioethics and Culture asked me to do a “year in review” kind of column. Space didn’t permit the piece to be all-inclusive. But I do mention the (from my perspective) primary high and low points of the year that will soon pass into history. Check it . . . . Continue Reading »
Australia has voted to end its former complete ban on human cloning. What is interesting is that this change wasn’t made because of new breakthroughs in the science. There haven’t been any—except with adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells. Rather, it was founded on pure hype, . . . . Continue Reading »
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