Human Exceptionalism

Female genital mutilation is a cruel practice during which the private parts of young girls are “cut” toward the primary end of suppressing or eradicating sexual response when they come of age. While some forms of FGM are more invasive than others, it is never medically justified, its purpose is to subjugate women, and the practice is not dogmatically commanded Read More ›

When Bill Nye the Science Guy complains of a war being waged on science, he should look in the mirror. Nye, who is actually the mechanical engineering guy—that’s his educational background—is more guilty of undermining science (properly understood) by politicizing it than almost anyone this side of Al Gore. No one is attacking science. Why would they? Science is a Read More ›

There was a day in the not-too-distant past when physicians were respected, even revered, as learned professionals. We understood that doctors followed a “higher calling.” Indeed, physicians were expected to adhere to a code of conduct—epitomized by the Hippocratic Oath’s venerable injunction, “do no harm.” Times have changed. The old hierarchies eroded and professional standards evolved accordingly. Some of this has obviously been Read More ›

As an anti-euthanasia activist since 1993, I am used to opponents stretching the truth. True to form, Barbara Coombs Lee, the head of Compassion & Choices, claimed I advocate making assisted suicide “a federal crime.” No, I don’t. I support a prohibition on using federally controlled substances such as opioids from being prescribed for assisted suicide — a different approach altogether Read More ›

Promoting wellness is becoming a means for government and big business to exercise control over our lives. The pretext is cost-cutting—the idea that if employers and government can persuade us to live healthier lifestyles, then society will benefit from less government spending on health care and reduced business costs from lowered health-insurance premiums and fewer employee sick days. But when Read More ›

If you had told me back in, say, 2003, that biotechnology would not be an incendiary subject of political and cultural controversy in 2017, I would have thought you lived in an alternate universe. Those were the days of the great embryonic stem cell (ESCR) debate, during which President George W. Bush and pro-lifers were angrily accused by scientists in Read More ›

Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer popularized “speciesism,” a derogatory term for the belief that it is acceptable to treat humans differently from animals based solely on species membership. Singer identified this idea as a form of discrimination, as odious as racism and sexism. Speciesism is universally condemned within the animal rights movement (as distinguished from animal welfare advocacy), which holds, in Read More ›