Wesley J. Smith

This is an awful truth: Barring the unforeseen, Terri Schiavo is going to die. She has now been without food and water for so long that even if she were rehydrated, her organs might be so damaged that she would not regain her health.How are we to act in the face of such a profound injustice? Many . . . . Continue Reading »

There have been other food and fluids cases almost identical to Terri Schiavo’s. And these people had higher capacities. For example, Robert Wendland could roll a wheelchair down a hospital corridor and yet, a hospital ethics committee thought it was A-okay to dehydrate him to death. Wendland . . . . Continue Reading »

I participated in an on-line debate for Court TV yesterday with Florida bioethicist, Bill Allen. We mostly discussed Terri Schiavo. But we also got deeper into the context in which the Schiavo case is being played out, that is, the idea that some of us are not “persons” based on . . . . Continue Reading »

When Congress directed the federal courts to take a fresh look at the Schiavo case, it was to be “de novo,” that is, to relook at the evidence with a fresh eye. Yet, Judge James D. Whittemore looks to have been more of a rubber stamp. For example, the federal courts were to determine . . . . Continue Reading »

Ralph Nader and I have issued a joint press release urging that all lawful efforts be made to save Terri Schiavo’s . . . . Continue Reading »

I was asked to weigh in on the Schiavo case by an on-line publication called To The Source, which is sent to tens of thousands of pastors around the country. I focused on how Schiavo, like an executed prisoner, is going to die because the state, through the courts, have so decreed. Yet, when new . . . . Continue Reading »

Janie Siess is an attorney extraordinaire who represented the mother and sister of Robert Wendland. She fought a five-year legal battle in California to keep his feeding tube from being taken out—even though he could roll a wheelchair down a hospital corridor. She has started a new blog, in . . . . Continue Reading »

With the Netherlands openly practicing eugenic infanticide and in the process of preparing to formally legalize the killing of babies born with disabilities or terminal conditions, we find media in our own country looking on the act with utter non judgmentalism, or even approval. Here’s my . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been watching the TV interview programs on Schiavo and note that there is a conflict among the medical experts as to whether Terri can be improved with therapy. Some say yes. Others say no. But this doesn’t have to be a case of doctor said/doctor said. There is a simple way to find out . . . . Continue Reading »

The remarkable events of the weekend has heartened me tremendously. Not just because a law was passed that might save Terri Schiavo’s life. (Actually, I am not very optimistic about that. This case has become part of a larger power struggle between the judiciary and political branches of . . . . Continue Reading »