January 2010

Libertarian Transhumanism: Treating Future Humanity Like Play Doh

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC I have been watching the libertarian love affair with Utopian transhumanism for some time. It seems odd to me. Libertarians tend to see themselves as hard-headed realists about the motives and hearts of men. But whenever they get a whiff of the futurist opium, many [...]

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What It Means to be Human on “Nature Rights”

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC My latest podcast delves into “nature rights,” which, I believe, could reasonably be depicted as neo nature religion. It isn’t just the constitution of Ecuador, as I have discussed before. Some US municipalities have passed ordinances giving “Nature” the right to sue. We live in [...]

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“Direct Reprogramming:” Mouse Cells Transformed Into Brain Cells

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC Holy cow! Scientists have demonstrated that pluripotency may not be necessary to transform cells into other body tissues, meaning that “stem cells” might prove unnecessary in regenerative medicine. In mice, they transformed fibroblasts–cells that construct connective tissue –directly into functional brain cells. From the story: [...]

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“Everybody Matters, No Matter What”

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC I was asked by First Things to write an “On the Square” essay about the awful comments by the novelist Martin Amis, who yearned for “euthanasia boxes” to be placed on every corner to do away with the “stinking” elderly. I did. From my piece, [...]

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Swiss May Discourage Suicide Tourism Through Suicide Tax

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC I guess this is one way to deter the suicide industry that has set up shop in Switzerland: Tax it! From the story: Patients who travel to Switzerland to die in Zurich’s so-called suicide clinics could face a 50,000 Swiss franc ($53,000) ”death tax”. Right-wing [...]

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Compassion and Choices Attack on Medical Conscience

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC The assisted suicide advocacy organization, Compassion and Choices, clearly opposes the right of medical professionals to refuse to participate–or be complicit in–the intentional taking of human life. This issue is going to be one of the biggest in bioethics in the coming decade, so it [...]

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Scottish Bill Would Allow Active Euthanasia by Non Doctor

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC The new Scotland Parliament bill to legalize assisted suicide – which I noted in an earlier post – permits disabled or dying teenagers access to “end of life assistance”–clearly includes active mercy killing. From the bill (no link, my emphasis): 1. Lawful to provide assistance [...]

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Non Terminal Teenagers Eligible for Assisted Suicide in Scottish Legalization Bill

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC A very telling bill has been tabled in the Scottish Parliament to legalize assisted suicide. Notably, it is not restricted to the terminally ill–but allows people who can’t live independently to receive poison pills. Also, the age limit is only 16. From the End of [...]

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What It Means to be Human: Promoting Conscience Clauses

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC The newest edition of my podcast What It Means to be Human concerns the need to legally protect the consciences of Hippocratic physicians and other health care professionals. As I have stated repeatedly, this is going to be one of the biggest bioethical issues in [...]

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Mother Jailed for Murdering Disabled Son

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC I reported a bit ago about the case of Francis Inglis, the mother, who while out on bail for trying to kill her seriously disabled son Tom, went to his hospital room and murdered him. In the UK, as here, such cases often generate “mercy” [...]

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