Wesley J. Smith

The European Union’s right to “family life” is being used for potentially pernicious purposes.  For example, as we discussed several months ago, the European Court of Human Rights has taken a case that will decide whether the right includes to make a family member dead . . . . Continue Reading »

Readers of SHS may recall the indictment of Ted Goodwin and other Final Exit Network activists, accused of assisting the suicide of a man in remission from cancer who was distraught at his disfiguring surgery.  The defendants challenged the indictment, denied by the Georgia Court of . . . . Continue Reading »

Next week, Mississippi voters will decide whether to convey legal personhood on human beings from inception of the embryo after the completion of fertilization.  From the NPR story:Next week Mississippi voters will decide whether to pass a constitutional amendment that redefines a person. Under . . . . Continue Reading »

The day I changed the name of this blog away from Secondhand . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama has signed an executive order intended to promote sufficient supplies of neccessary, but unprofitable, medications—such as some chemotherapy drugs.  That’s good.  But from what I could read, the order does not get to the bottom-line cause of the problem. . . . . Continue Reading »

Since the cruel dehydration death of Terri Schiavo in 2005, her family has been very active—through the foundation they created, now called the Terri Schindler Schiavo Life and Hope Network—speaking up and advocating for the equal moral worth of people with profound cognitive . . . . Continue Reading »

How can anyone be burned at the stake beheaded for “casting a spell” in the 21st Century?  But that is what has just happened in Saudi Arabia, as a “sorcerer” was executed.  From the story: According to the officer’s account Abdul Hamid agreed to carry out . . . . Continue Reading »

Blimey!  The British Medical Journal reports on a study indicting the system of caring for eldelry people in UK hospitals. The title tells it all: “Half of English hospitals fail to meet basic standards on care for older people” (no link, BMJ . . . . Continue Reading »

A German restaurant serves cuisine that only features food eaten by our ancient cave dwelling ancestors. From the Daily Mail Story:Proudly announcing a ‘Real Food Revolution - Paleolithic cuisine!’, there is no cheese, bread or sugar available, only fare accessible to our hunter-gatherer . . . . Continue Reading »

Readers of Secondhand Smoke and my other writings know that I have grown increasingly concerned at the deprofessionalization of medicine. Part of this is a self deconstruction in which medical organizations and many bioethicists have reduced doctors to so many order taking technocrats with . . . . Continue Reading »