Wesley J. Smith

Missouri’s universities will not have a life sciences building project funded due to the potential that the buildings would be used to conduct human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. While the media rails against cloning opponents, the real fault lies with the authors of Amendment 2. . . . . Continue Reading »

I often describe the blatant biased reporting about the ESCR debate. But much of the problem isn’t bias—it is ignorance. Say a general beat reporter is directed by his or her editor to do a stem cell story. He or she calls scientists—who may or may not mislead the . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes, we have a shortage of transplantable organs. But that does not in the least excuse this legislation in South Carolina to give reduced sentences to prisoners in return for agreeing to be an organ or bone marrow donor. No, I am not joking. There is a terrible history in this country of using . . . . Continue Reading »

Scientists are using bluegill fish to screen water for toxins and are developing methods by which bees and cockroaches will help with airline security. As I often say, never under estimate the imagination and abilities of scientists. Just don’t tell PETA. It thinks fish should not be kept in . . . . Continue Reading »

There is so much going on in the fields of adult/umbilical cord blood stem cell research, that I can’t possibly post it all here at Secondhand Smoke, much less read it all. Happily, these advances are collected by the inestimable Richard Doerflinger, and published on a periodic basis by Do No . . . . Continue Reading »

Christa Lilly, the Colorado woman diagnosed with persistent vegetative state who woke up and began talking, has relapsed into an unresponsive state. Her mother promises to care for her no matter what. Good. Lilly’s moral worth and intrinsic value as a human being—a sister of all . . . . Continue Reading »

It is incredible that anyone would seriously contemplate legalizing assisted suicide in California, given the elder abuse statistics. In 2003, the California Attorney General’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA) and Crime and Violence Prevention Center (CVPC) issued a 50-page . . . . Continue Reading »

This wonderful story demonstrates that being diagnosed PVS does not mean necessarily that one will never wake up, and indeed, that one will not again become interactive. Christa Lilly woke up after 6 years in a diagnosed unconscious condition, and is now telling her story on television! Imagine, if . . . . Continue Reading »

For years, PETA and vegan front groups like Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), have assailed the Atkins diet on the basis of health—when the true cause for their loathing is that it is very high in protein—e.g. meat. No lie has been too low for these vegan fanatics to . . . . Continue Reading »

Yesterday, I posted a brief comment about how PETA is going after Al Gore because he eats meat which purportedly adds to global warming. My point was that global warming isn’t the issue for PETA, but eating animals is, and that the group was merely grandstanding. I forgot to mention further . . . . Continue Reading »