Your “Wellness” or Your Freedom

by Wesley J. Smith

When does a laudable desire to reduce healthcare costs become an obsession with controlling how we live our lives? Continue Reading »

17 Mar 2017

The Agony of Paul Ryan

by Pete Spiliakos

The wonky, compromising Ryan was a very useful fellow—but Republicans couldn’t leave well enough alone. Continue Reading »

16 Mar 2017

What Euthanasia Enthusiasts Really Want

by Wesley J. Smith

Assisted-suicide advocacy is wrapped in euphemisms and false assurances. We are often told that medicalized killing will be “a last resort” reserved for the terminally ill, to be deployed only in the context of a long-term relationship with a caring doctor and, even then, strictly when there is . . . . Continue Reading »

8 Jan 2016

Ministries of Life

by Ephraim Radner

If you ride New York City’s subways, you will see public service advertisements blaz­oned above you. Some come from “NYC Condom,” a service of the New York City Health Department, some from other groups (like the BACCHUS Initiatives of the National Association of Student Personnel . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2016

Slick and Far From Truth

by Nathaniel Givens

Given the low standards of mainstream reporting on religious issues, it’s hard to publish an article that is truly disappointing, but Slate’s recent piece “Sick and Far From Home” manages to achieve just that. The article, which a Slate press release trumpeted as “a stunning investigatory . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Oct 2015

Euthanasia's Open Season on the Mentally Ill

by Wesley J. Smith

A few years ago, I spoke about end-of-life care at a town-hall event; it quickly devolved into an intense debate on assisted suicide. When the time came for audience questions, a self-described “mentally ill” woman took the microphone and declared that she had a right to doctor-prescribed death. More than half the audience burst into applause. Continue Reading »

26 Jun 2015

Will Doctors Be Forced to Kill?

by Wesley J. Smith

The wailing and gnashing of teeth in some quarters over the modest Hobby Lobby decision has me worried. Apparently, many on the political port side of the country believe that once a favored public policy has been enacted, it immediately becomes a “right” that can never be altered or denied. More, once such a “right” is established for the individual, others should have the duty to ensure access—even at the cost of violating their own religious consciences. Continue Reading »

25 Jul 2014

Picture Perfect: The Politics of Prenatal Testing

by Elizabeth Kristol

During the past two decades, prenatal screening for fetal defects has become a standard part of nearly every pregnant woman’s medical care. Tests conducted during the first half of pregnancy are designed to detect a wide range of genetic and other disorders, and to give women the option of . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Apr 1993

Dr. Death Speaks

by Richard John Neuhaus

The Public Square Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who, as of this writing, has helped put eight women and one man to death, addressed the National Press Club. When it comes to the prudent use of body parts, he suggested, we are a wasteful society. “We use what’s around us to do what . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 1993

Forward to the Seventies

by John Strietelmeier

As I write these words, it is exactly one week before my seventieth birthday”“the days of our years,” according to the Psalmist; the day “the warranty runs out,” according to a friend of mine. Today is also the twenty-fourth anniversary of my father’s death, four months and ten days . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 1990