Wesley J. Smith

Few doctors take the Hippocratic Oath anymore. But many still believe in its maxims, including not to perform abortions, assist in suicides, or otherwise harm patients or other human life.Conscience clauses are controversial. President Obama said at Notre Dame that he believes in them—but his . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama said at Notre Dame that he supports conscience clauses for doctors who don’t want to perform abortions, but he is seeking to revoke the existing Bush conscience clause. How can we protect doctors who believe in the Hippocratic Oath from being driven out of medicine when they . . . . Continue Reading »

An unsurprising report finds that terminally ill people often procrastinate in entering hospice, and as a result, don’t receive the full benefit of this beneficent form of care. From the story:Americans tend to procrastinate when it comes to matters involving death and dying, but a Harvard . . . . Continue Reading »

Hollywood loves assisted suicide, with pro PAS themes often featured in some of the most popular television shows and in movies. Now, Al Pacino is going to star as Jack Kevorkian in a HBO movie based on a fawning book by a Kevorkian acolyte. Check out my blog Secondhand Smoke for more details of . . . . Continue Reading »

The culture of death is being pushed from many quarters, perhaps most harmfully by the purveyors of popular culture.Jack Kevorkian assisted the suicides of at least 130 people—most of whom were not terminally ill and five of whom were not sick according to autopsies—and murdered one. He . . . . Continue Reading »

There is nothing these days that can ever be safely considered to be permanently beyond the pale, unthinkable, flat-out undoable—and that apparently includes cutting off healthy limbs of patients with BIID. When I first heard of body integrity identity disorder—BIID—in which . . . . Continue Reading »

We continue to struggle with the bugs, but things are improving. Spacing, obviously, is a problem. But repairs continue to be made.Commenting is still inconvenient. To comment, just open the permalink by left clicking on the title, and that will permit comments. Eventually, that problem will also be . . . . Continue Reading »

I have warned repeatedly here at SHS and elsewhere of the growing acceptance within the mental health professions—and within the media—of suicide as a legitimate exercise in personal autonomy for those patients whose suffering is deemed non transitory or irremediable. suffering patients. . . . . Continue Reading »

I was first drawn into fighting assisted suicide when a depressed elderly friend committed suicide under the influence of Hemlock Society literature. Not only had the group’s suicide-porn given Frances moral permission to kill herself, but they had taught her precisely how to do it.These kinds . . . . Continue Reading »

Oh brother: The Guardian has really slipped its moorings with this sub headline for a rather mundane futurist’s peak into what awaits us by the year 2050: As the planet faces the most dangerous century in its 4.5bn-year history, astronomer royal Martin Rees looks into his crystal ball.Really? . . . . Continue Reading »