Human Exceptionalism

The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine has just released a position statement on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, in which it abdicates its core professional responsibility. On the impropriety of permitting doctors to help kill their patients, the association has assumed a position of “studied neutrality.” One of the AAHPM’s stated missions is to engage in “public policy Read More ›

The Vermont legislature has fast-tracked a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide, and California may not be far behind. If the legislatures in these states do vote to redefine physician-assisted suicide as a legitimate and legal “medical treatment,” a large part of the blame, strange though it may sound, can be laid at the feet of postmodernism. The deconstruction of language, Read More ›

“Choice” my foot: If  the new bill to legalize assisted suicide in California (A.B. 374) becomes law, Catholic nursing homes will be legally required to permit assisted suicide to be committed within their premises, even though doing so would be a profound violation of Catholic moral teaching. In-patient hospice facilities would be similarly coerced, despite assisted suicide being a direct affront to Read More ›

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) recently announced its “Guidelines for the Conduct of Embryonic Stem Cell Research.” The results are not encouraging. The Guidelines claim to “emphasize the responsibility of scientists to ensure that human stem cell research is carried out according to rigorous standard of research ethics.” But saying it doesn’t make it so. What the Read More ›

Doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital admitted that they surgically removed a six-year-old girl’s healthy uterus, breast buds, and appendix, and then subjected her to two years of high-dose estrogen injections to keep her from reaching adult stature. And they did so at her parents’ request. Sounds like a clear case of child abuse, doesn’t it? Not so fast. Many are Read More ›

The Swiss Supreme Court has ruled that people with mental illnesses can be legally assisted in suicide. The case came about when a member of Dignitas, an organization that, for a fee, provides a safe house for, and assistance with, suicide, brought a lawsuit seeking the right to have his death facilitated. The man does not have cancer, AIDS, or Read More ›

To the Editor: Peter Singer (“A Convenient Truth,” Op-Ed, Jan. 26) supports subjecting “Ashley,” a profoundly intellectually disabled girl, to surgical and hormonal interventions to keep her small. In backing her parents’ decision, he asserts that she has value only “because her parents and siblings love her and care about her.” By denying Ashley’s equal moral worth simply for being Read More ›

Can anything good come out of the United Nations? Actually, yes. Little noted in December, the General Assembly adopted a “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” If ratified by most member nations, the convention could strengthen protections for many people with disabilities. This is no trivial matter. In many countries, people with disabilities face significant, sometimes life-threatening discrimination. Read More ›

JACK KEVORKIAN will soon be out of jail on parole: Let the media races begin. Who will be the first to get the “exclusive” interview of Dr. Death? Will it be Katie Couric, hoping to score her first coup with the CBS Evening News? What about Oprah? She’s the undisputed queen of television. The smart money should probably be on Read More ›

What is personhood theory? If you haven’t heard about this before you probably will in the very near future. In this new view on life, each human being doesn’’t have moral worth simply and merely because he or she is human, but rather, we each have to earn our rights by possessing sufficient mental capacities to be considered a person. Read More ›