Wesley J. Smith

We shouldn’t always get what we want—particularly when it comes at the cost of exploiting the world’s destitute or taking advantage of despotic circumstances to benefit personally.  But we do.  Westerners increasingly go to poor countries and use the living . . . . Continue Reading »

Bioedge published a good article this week discussing the claim by some bioethicists that parents be required to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to eradicate unwanted heritable conditions.  From “Parents Have a Duty to Use IVF, Say Bioethicists:”Janet Malek, of East Carolina . . . . Continue Reading »

I predicted the outcome in my annual predictions: VT has killed the assisted suicide bill. From the Burlington Free Press story: For nearly two hours Thursday afternoon, the Vermont Senate focused on legislation that would allow people with fewer than six months to live to opt for a lethal dose . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes,the headline is hyperbole, but scientists may be closing in on a method of “direct reprogramming” that could change one type of cell into another without first going through the “stem cell” stage.  Specifically, scientists made nerve cells out of skin cells. From the . . . . Continue Reading »

The other day, I opposed Texas’s plan to allow doctors to charge for conducting human experiments with unapproved and still uncertain adult stem cell therapies.  No matter how well “regulated” I don’t see how it would be that much different from what is happening in . . . . Continue Reading »

Some people believe that all of us have an obligation to participate in live organ donation, that is, giving one of our two kidneys or a lobe of liver. While I certainly admire those who risk their lives and health to help others, I don’t think anyone is ethically obliged to give a piece of . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hunger Games was a very good movie.  I was surprised.  But who can be surprised that PETA would complain that starving people in the dystopian future depicted in the book and film hunted to stay alive?  Now, they have criticized Jennifer Lawrence, the star of the film, . . . . Continue Reading »

I oppose off-label prescribing. I oppose states legalizing medical marijuana when it should be done by changing the Controlled Substances Act.  I oppose novel interventions upon the disabled, such as “Ashley’s Treatment,” without proper regulatory studies and approval. I would . . . . Continue Reading »

I keep an eye on the anti humanism in radical environmentalism in my work defending human exceptionalism.  I have noted here and elsewhere that the ecocide brigades held a mock trial of fictional Alberta tar sands executives and—surprise!—found them guilty of extracting oil for . . . . Continue Reading »

My wonderful friend Mark Pickup has rerun an essay on his blog Human Life Matters by Dr. Dianne Irving on the history of bioethics.  Irving was present at the birth of the field, dissents strongly from the direction in which it went, and was very helpful to me in researching my own . . . . Continue Reading »