Wesley Smith has Lots of Nerve

Wesley Smith has made a serious bid for the 2004 chutzpah award. in a new column he complains that proponents of embryonic stem cell research using cloned embryos are playing word games in how they describe cloned embryos. This coming in the context of a year's worth of conniving on the part of proponents of a ban on cloning for research to say they are not opposed to 'stem' cell research when what they mean is adult stem cell research and intentionally confusing reproductive cloning with cloning for research. Wesley--stones, glass houses, c'mon now! - Art Caplan

Illinois' Stem Cell Aspirations Take a Dive

Illinois Senate has moments ago canned its amendment promoting stem cell work in the state. The story is still developing but Wesley Smith posted it on MCW. More:

The defeat of the amended version of HB 3859, which opponents argued would allow "laboratory cloning" as part of stem cell research, depended upon the votes of Downstate Democrats. Republican senators Kirk Dillard, Christine Radogno and Adeleine Geo-Karis broke ranks with the Republican caucus and voted to support the measure.

Euthanasia = Kevorkian?

Wesley Smith thinks so.

Updated: Howard Brody Offers an Apology

The Oct 5th Lansing, MI City Pulse offers a look into Howard Brody's changed thinking on the right to die. This is a great piece, written as only Brody can, that comes out of a previous column he had written on eugenics. Those reading about Schiavo and disability will be very interested. New: readers who found the Brody piece here let the MCW listserv crowd know about it, starting another rant-a-thon there; e.g., Wesley Smith praised Brody (albeit for sharing his own position).

Constitutional Cloning Take 2- Wesley Smith & Brian Alexander

A couple of days ago we found Brian Alexander's Times magazine piece on the First Amendment and rights to research, specifically rights to clone. Brian commented that we were a bit too harsh. Now Wesley Smith comes to the debate with a quickly penned response to Alexander in the Weekly Standard. If you are scratching your head about the comments by Leon Kass in the Alexander essay, to the effect that Kass would "rather not think about" the constitutionality question, don't despair. Smith is only too happy to clarify the evils of a 1st Amendment argument. This is truly new territory for the neocon bioethics crowd - kind of like their adventure in human nature theory - and it makes for great reading.