Wesley J. Smith

As promised, my podcast—which will be called Brave New Bioethics—will soon be available here, and at the Discovery Institute Website. I have recorded the first episode and will post it when it has been fully engineered.And here’s a coming attraction: If all goes as expected, I will . . . . Continue Reading »

Spending $30 million and still barely eking out a victory that was founded in pure deception; if the Amendment 2 forces thought opponents would just go away, they were mistaken. The political struggle continues to maintain ethics and morality in . . . . Continue Reading »

I wish I had been able to attend this lecture at Princeton, presented by Leon Kass. I only have read the brief story about the talk in the Princtonian, which I linked above, but even that brief synopsis reveals the classic Kass wisdom. He warns against “turning medicine into messiah” and . . . . Continue Reading »

Derek Humphry is the co-founder with his late former wife Ann Wickett, of the Hemlock Society. Humphry is a suicide ideologue, author of the how-to-commit-suicide guide Final Exit, who is utterly indifferent that his book has been found next to the bodies of teenage suicide victims.But Humphry is . . . . Continue Reading »

The election last night was not primarily about the issues dealt with here at Secondhand Smoke. But there will be an impact. Only time will tell what they are, but here are a few of my initial thoughts.1. Human Cloning, the status quo will hold: The U.S. Senate will still not be able to pass a . . . . Continue Reading »

It was close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as they say. Amendment 2 passed with about 51% of the vote. It’s hard to fight against $30 million. But the no campaign proved that people do not like cloning for any purpose, which is why the proponents deceived voters into . . . . Continue Reading »

I love this story in the New York Times that traces the fate of children born from Nazi Germany’s Lebensborn program, intended to breed a Master Race, and reports where they are today. Here’s a brief background: Back when the old scientific consensus supported eugenics, there were two . . . . Continue Reading »

First UK scientists wanted to create human/rabbit cloned embryos. Now, UK scientists are applying to create mostly human/tiny bit cow cloned embryos, revealing vividly the current anything goes mindset that permeates the science/biotech sector. Rather than allowing society to work through the ethics . . . . Continue Reading »

So, I am watching CNN and it runs a segment on Missouri’s Amendment 2 and embryonic stem cell research. Then, Bill Schneider, CNN’s big political analyst comes on to say confidently that based on his discussions with people, second only to Iraq, the stem cell issue is most urgently on . . . . Continue Reading »

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology is calling for society to permit eugenic infanticide. The problem, according to these “ethicists” is that some very disabled babies survive. We can’t have that. “A very disabled child can mean a disabled family,” the report . . . . Continue Reading »