Human Exceptionalism

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 ›

Is the animal-rights movement beginning to fracture? The evidence definitely points in that direction. Liberationists have been engaged recently in some nasty infighting over basic issues of ideology and the propriety of violent and intimidating protest tactics. Indeed, the antipathy among the various factions seems to have grown so intense that the animal-rights movement could soon segregate into antagonistic camps. Read More ›

Like Fr. Neuhaus, I too was taken with the article “I’m Not a Saint, Just a Parent” by Simon Barnes in the Times of London. It recalled to my mind a speech I gave several years ago to a medical school in which I urged the students to always look at their patients through the lens of universal moral equality. After the speech, Read More ›

Bio Science Views Commentaries Discovery Institute Bioethics Program Brave New Bioethics podcast featuring Wesley J. Smith Sample radio commentaries by Discovery senior fellow Wesley J. Smith BSV #1 1:16, 1.2MB BSV #2 1:12, 1.1MB BSV #3 1:16, 1.2MB BSV #4 1:10, 1.07MB BSV #5 1:12. 1.1MB BSV #6 1:18. 1.19MB To inquire about broadcasting Bio Science Views contact Robert Crowther Read More ›

SCIENTISTS SHOULD BE UP IN ARMS against “science advocates” who undermine the reputation of science by engaging in deception, obfuscation, spin, and hype to win the political debate over embryonic stem-cell and human cloning research. The latest such low blow comes from the Houston-based Alliance for Medical Research, a non-profit educational organization with informal ties to the Baylor College of Read More ›

The push to permit infanticide has entered the mainstream. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology (RCOG) has recommended that a debate be had about whether to permit “deliberate interventions to kill infants.” The recommendation, which was widely reported in the media, was in response to a query from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics concerning ethical issues pertaining to health Read More ›

Yes, the world is getting warmer, but the Earth does this roughly every 1,500 years, and we cannot stop it. The good news is humans and most other species tend to do better during the warm periods. There is a wonderful new book, “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years,” by distinguished climate physicist Fred Singer and award-winning environmental economist Dennis Read More ›