Human Exceptionalism

The assisted-suicide movement has come a long way in just a couple of decades. Consider, for example, this recent item from the San Francisco Chronicle: “Charlotte Shultz [the wife of former secretary of state George Shultz] accepted the invitation to be honorary co- chair (with Dianne Feinstein) at a Nov. 5 luncheon and program for Compassion & Choices of Northern Read More ›

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith was recently featured as part of a Family Research Council Town Hall on health care. Other guests included House Minority Leader John Boehner, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, Congressman Chris Smith and several others. To listen, click here.

Discovery President Bruce Chapman has an interesting take on National Review’s cover story by Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith at Discovery Blog. Click on the link above to read the story.

President Obama’s drive to remake the entire American health care system—dubbed “Obamacare” by friends and critics alike—has been seriously hobbled by fears of “death panels” and worries Grandma will be denied life-saving care by rationing boards or pushed by end-of-life counselors into “taking the pain pill” (to quote the president) rather than accepting life-extending treatment. With the Administration struggling to Read More ›

This article, published in National Review, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: … Baleful trends among bioethicists should heighten those concerns. The view that medical care should be withheld from people based not merely on the likelihood of success or the cost but on judgments about the quality of their lives is no longer held only by a fringe. Read More ›

Americans are engaged in a healthy democratic donnybrook over “Obamacare,” the generic term for health care reform legislation that would remake the current American medical system. What a spectacle — citizens yelling at their elective representatives; the Speaker of the House of Representatives testily calling democratic organizing and agitation “un American,” the President of the United States forced by political Read More ›

This article, published by Ethics and Religion, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith: Scare tactics? Not according to Dr. Wesley Smith, who leads bioethics and human rights for the Discovery Institute. The House-passed bill does set up “proper care protocols” for cost savings. “The fear is that they would be rationing boards, rather than entities which stick to saying, Read More ›

As physicians, we are excited by new medical advances undreamed of only a few decades ago. Scientists are now creating advanced and truly individualized medicines that work with a person’s unique set of bodily components, such as DNA. Many of these new medicines – “biologic” drugs – are much more complicated than previous generations of medicines. Biologics are large, complex Read More ›

President Barack Obama made headlines earlier this year when he named physician and medical researcher Dr. Francis S. Collins—best known for heading the Human Genome Project—to head the National Institutes of Health. Why the fuss? Collins is an enthusiastic evangelical Christian who forcefully witnesses to his faith in the public square. Ignoring the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition of a religious test for Read More ›

Imagine you are a cattle rancher looking for liability insurance. You meet with your broker, who, as expected, asks a series of questions to gauge your suitability for coverage: Have you ever been sued by your cattle? If the answer is yes, what was the outcome of that suit? Have you received any correspondence or other communication from your herd’s Read More ›

Congress is considering a ban on “invasive research” on chimpanzees and a few other intelligent primates in a move that represents the first step toward a ban on all experiments using animals. According to Discovery Institute Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith, this is just the tip of the iceberg as animal rights extremists look forward to the confirmation of law professor Read More ›