I think that this is worthy of its own entry, rather than just an update of the one ↓down there↓; South Dakota has shelved its lunatic proposed law on justifiable homicide. When even anti-abortion activists were against it, that was probably inevitable. On the other hand, it’s only been shelved. Things can come off the […]
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Wow. South Dakota… just Wow.
I’m a bit bowled over by this. There’s a Bill currently before the South Dakota legislature that would, if passed, change the scope of justifiable homicide laws. FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to expand the definition of justifiable homicide to provide for the protection of certain unborn children. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF […]
Ethics (without the brain?)
I’ve set my RSS to receive updates from Secondhand Smoke, which is one of the blogs at First Things. It’s written by Wesley Smith, who is affiliated to the Discovery Institute, the creationist thinktank in Seattle: that gives you an indication of the sort of position he occupies – not just on bioethics, but also […]
Saviour Siblings, Ends and Means: How far can you go?
It would appear that France is being forced to grapple with the idea of saviour siblings in a case that looks to be in essence a copy of the UK’s Hashmi case from 2002. That case concerned a couple who wanted to screen embryos to ensure compatibility in order that cord blood from the baby […]
Public Debate: Organ Donation
Organ donation: the cost of not giving: A public debate Thursday 17 March 2011, 6.30-8.00 Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX This public event will bring together people involved in organ donation and transplantation to discuss the current situation in the UK. You will have a chance to hear about the complexity of transplant coordination, the harrowing […]
What’re your Qualifications?
“I’ve never read a more outrageous job advert,” says a colleague’s Facebook update, in reference to this from Georgetown University. Georgetown University is seeking outstanding candidates for the position of Director of the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center (CCB). The CCB Director will report directly to the Medical Center’s chief executive officer, the […]
Chris Mooney Interviews Arthur Caplan (.mp3)
There’s a podcast of an interview between Chris Mooney and Arthur Caplan available here; Caplan is talking about bioethics having “come of age”. He’s talking about the history of the US bioethics councils under Bush and Obama, and about how the focus of the President’s Council now is more policy-driven than being concerned by “deep” […]
Promoting Wise Behaviour, or Mandating it?
Following on from yesterday’s vaguely pro-paternalism post, my eye was drawn to this story, concerning a prisoner who has won the right (or, rather, had the right confirmed) to have high-energy foods sent to him while he’s in chokey. The beeb has a few crowd-pleasing splutters about the crime for which he was imprisoned, but […]
Legislating for Wisdom
The decision of legislators in Northern Ireland to vote in favour of a bill requiring cyclists to wear helmets has apparently been met warmly by medics. It would appear that some people have raised a worry that requiring such behaviour might lead to an overall drop in health, on the grounds that people will be […]
Spanish Medical Law Blog
José Fernándes has drawn my attention to this blog, Medicina y Derecho (Medicine and Law) which may be of interest to Spanish-speaking readers. My own grasp of the language is (alas) too poor to allow me to say anything about the blog’s interests, or what’s going on there; maybe someone could give a quick assessment in the […]