Wesley J. Smith

My podcast, Brave New Bioethics, launches next week. I will link them here as they are released. But if you would like to subscribe and receive them via cyberspace as they come out, please do so by hitting this link and following the subscription instructions. The price is right: It’s free. Of . . . . Continue Reading »

John Derbyshire has responded in The Corner to my First Things blog entry chastising him for rejecting human exceptionalism along with his faith. He has every right to do so, of course. But he doesn’t have the right to mischaracterize my arguments. He claims I grant humans a special place . . . . Continue Reading »

This is the second story I have seen in the last two weeks along these lines. Apparently, the political-scientists’ intentional blurring of “stem cell research” with “embryonic stem cell research,” is chilling the way forward in areas that are not ethically contentious. . . . . Continue Reading »

I received an e-mail from a reader of Secondhand Smoke, gently chastising me for assuming that the amendment would not permit reproductive cloning. Her actual fear is that A. 2 would permit fetal farming, as the New Jersey law does. As we shall see, she was wrong about the fetal farming, but right . . . . Continue Reading »

Doctors are preparing to implant a uterus into a woman in the hope that she can have children. But is this ethical and wise? Usually, organs are transplanted to save lives, which is worth the risk of dying in surgery and having to spend a lifetime taking immune-suppressing drugs. But this is an . . . . Continue Reading »

Is it possible that voters in Missouri will be given the opportunity to repeal Amendment 2? Perhaps so. Opponents of human cloning, now a Missouri state constitutional right, are apparently contemplating another vote to seek to repeal Amendment 2. I think this is a legitimate approach. Amendment 2 . . . . Continue Reading »

The Tampa Tribune continues to lash out at the family of Terri Schiavo, accusing the Schindlers in this editorial of engaging in “vitriol” and acting in a “caustic” manner for having had the temerity to try and save her life. In this letter to the editor, Bobby Schindler, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Washington Post reporter, Robert Weiss, tries mightily to turn this story, about cells from infant mice being implanted into other mice and partially restoring sight, as an embryonic stem cell-boosting report. He even quotes the discredited Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology, who lied so . . . . Continue Reading »

This story on Fox News, about the discussions at a stem cell conference is interesting—and typically, mostly inaccurate. First, the Japanese scientist who reverted skin cells to embryonic stem cells—a perfectly ethical procedure—also reported that they cause tumors in mice, just as . . . . Continue Reading »

The MO election is over, the cloners have won, and yet the in-the-tank Missouri media continues its boosterism and shilling. This giddy little story, from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, byline Rachel Melcer, is pure hype. It’s Boom Time, folks! Why thanks to Amendment 2, private companies are . . . . Continue Reading »