Wesley J. Smith Defends Medical Conscience on Family First New Zealand

Wesley J. Smith joined host Simon O’Connor on Family Matters, a show from Family First New Zealand, to discuss current efforts to force medical professionals with religious and conscientious objections to participate in assisted suicide and euthanasia. Smith specifically highlights the danger that these threats pose, as they would drive talented people away from the medical field.

Smith and O’Connor also discuss the trend of medicine becoming something like a “vending machine” as it’s been made into a consumer service.

“Patient autonomy, of course, is a part of medicine,” Smith explains. “But doctors are not automatons and they should not be forced to do things that run contrary to their beliefs and their ethics.”

Read Wesley J. Smith’s piece, “Nuns Sue New York Over Forced Complicity in Assisted Suicide.”