Four months ago, a little girl in Samoa was born with serious disabilities. Doctors did not believe the baby could survive, so they urged the parents not to feed their daughter. But the parents loved their daughter and snuck food to Miracle. Beyond all medical expectations, Miracle survived. Ponder, if you will, what I just wrote: Miracle’s parents had to Read More ›
The arrest of football great Michael Vick for allegedly participating in a dog fighting/gambling ring has shocked the country. The charges are horrendous: In a throwback to the brutality of the Roman arena in which wild animals were forced to fight and kill each other to the frenzy of the crowd, Vick and his co-conspirators, according to authorities, bred pit Read More ›
Tearing humans off the pedestal of exceptionalism is all the rage today among academics, philosophers, and other assorted members of the intelligentsia. The war against unique human worth—of which many remain unaware—is being mounted on many fronts: “Personhood Theory” in bioethics claims that granting humans unique moral status based simply on being human is “speciesism,” and hence membership in the Read More ›
Brave New Bioethics Brave New Bioethics is a series of podcasts recorded by Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith exploring the many policies and proposals in bioethics, bioscience, and animal liberation that threaten the belief that human life has worth merely and simply because it is human. Episodes are listed below. Cloning Double Talk Hospice Association Refuses to Denounce Read More ›
As the congressional debate over embryonic stem cell research reignites after the Easter recess, few will recall the passing anniversary of another great bioethics debate. Only one century ago, eugenics the attempt to improve the human race through better breeding was all the rage in the scientific world. And this spring marks the centenary of the world’s first Read More ›
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Orin Hatch have just introduced Senate Bill 812, which explicitly legalizes human cloning and—since a shortage of human eggs is currently impeding human cloning research (one egg is needed for each attempt at cloning)—the bill also authorizes researchers to pay women to undergo egg procurement. And if the purpose of the legislation wasn’t bad enough, there’s Read More ›
Scientists at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) had indeed issued a press release claiming they could obtain stem cells by taking only one cell from an early 8-10 cell embryo, which, the release claimed, permitted the embryos to remain viable. (Conventional ESCR is conducted upon later-stage embryos at the 100-200 cell stage, which destroys the embryo.) But upon closer investigation, it Read More ›
Click here to learn more about Discovery Institute’s Bioethics program. “NEW STEM CELL METHOD avoids destroying embryos,” the New York Times headline blared. “Stem cell breakthrough may end political logjam,” chimed in the Los Angeles Times. “Embryos spared in stem cell creation,” affirmed USA Today. Reporting the same supposed scientific achievement by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), the Washington Post quoted Read More ›
OAKLAND – Alleged breakthrough research on embryonic stem cell lines is being oversold by the media to fit their ideological agenda, according to an article slated for next week’s Weekly Standard by prominent bioethicist Wesley J. Smith. “The American media too often act as advocates in the embryonic stem cell debate, rather than journalists,” says Smith. “As a result, they Read More ›
Testimony of Wesley J. Smith in Opposition to Legislation of Physician-Assisted Suicide in California (AB 651)Before the Senate Judiciary Committee “Informational Hearing,” June 20, 2006 Good afternoon. My name is Wesley J. Smith. I am an author and consumer advocate. I am a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, an attorney and consultant for the International Task Force on Euthanasia Read More ›