Human Exceptionalism

Former Gov. Booth Gardner, a Parkinson’s disease patient, hopes to place an initiative on the 2008 ballot to legalize assisted suicide in Washington. For the sake of Washington’s most weak and vulnerable people, he should reconsider. Assisted suicide can be spun to sound reasonable in theory, but once the real-world context in which assisted suicide would be carried out is Read More ›

The United States is an amazing country. Our system of liberty under law is the gold standard of political freedom. Our dynamic free market drives the world economy. Our sacrifices of blood and treasure to free subjugated peoples and succor victims of natural and man-made calamities are too many to recount. Yet, in our history we have also inflicted terrible Read More ›

At last a high government official in Europe got up the nerve to chastise the Dutch government for preparing to legalize infant euthanasia. Italy’s Parliamentary Affairs minister, Carlo Giovanardi, said during a radio debate: “Nazi legislation and Hitler’s ideas are reemerging in Europe via Dutch euthanasia laws and the debate on how to kill ill children.” Unsurprisingly, the Dutch, ever Read More ›

This article, published by the New York Sun, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: A senior fellow at the Discovery Institute who is a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture, Wesley Smith, has been warning about this trend toward including killing as part of a medical act. The rest of the article can be found here.

This article, published by What the Bleep!?, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: Smith’s Consumer’s Guide presents an in-depth look at a range of issues involved in the current controversy regarding embryonic stem cell (ESC) research. The rest of the article can be found here.

In 2000, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that patients being euthanized in the Netherlands sometimes experienced significant side effects (apart from death, that is), such as nausea, convulsions, or coma. This belied the assertion oft made by euthanasia proponents that being killed by a doctor necessarily provides the euphemistic “gentle landing” of euthanasia lore. #ad#Responding to the Netherlands report, the NEJM published Read More ›

Petitions have only begun to be gathered to qualify the Missouri Stem Cell and Cures Initiative for November’s ballot, and already the controversy is white hot. Proponents contend that their proposal would merely permit embryonic stem cell research using a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, while also banning human cloning. But opponents insist that the process is human Read More ›

Editor’s Note: The following audio was recorded from a talk given by Wesley Smith at Discovery Institute’s Washington DC office on February 22, 2006. Download Audio MP3 (34.7MB)

This article, published by Agape Press, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: Wesley Smith, a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute, says an oath taken by new doctors for centuries is being watered down to allow for more open interpretation. The rest of the article can be found here.

In the court (and courts) of life and death, a little 11-year-old Massachusetts girl named Haleigh Poutre could be the next Terri Schiavo. For those who have not heard the tragic story, Haleigh was beaten nearly to death last September, allegedly by her adoptive mother and stepfather. The beating left her unconscious and barely clinging to life. Within a week or so Read More ›

Three years ago, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack signed a law banning all human cloning (both for research and for reproduction). But he has just shifted his position 180 degrees, calling upon the state’s legislature to legalize human cloning for biomedical research. But rather than just admit he was wrong to sign the original bill, he has instead lied about the Read More ›

Tuesday’s 6-3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court preventing the federal government from punishing doctors who prescribe federally controlled substances — narcotics — for suicide is being spun by euthanasia advocates as a big boost for their cause. Never mind that the ruling was very narrow and did not, as proponents claim, “uphold” Oregon’s law. And never mind that Justice Read More ›