Wesley J. Smith

Wesley J. Smith is a lawyer and an award winning author, [2001 Book Awards, Independent Publishers Organization] a senior fellow in bioethics at the Discovery Institute, an attorney for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, [Source: International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, See, Amicus Brief of the International Anti Euthanasia Task Force before the Supreme Court of the United States,Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997).] and a special consultant for the Center for Bioethics and Culture. [ Source: [http://www.thecbc.org CBC website] .] In 2004 he was named by the National Journal as one of the nation’s top expert thinkers in bioengineering. [National Journal, May 22, 2004.]

Smith has authored or co-authored eleven books. He formerly collaborated with consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and has been published in regional and national outlets such as the New York Times, [ New York Times,"Depressed? Don't Go See Dr. Kevorkian," September 16, 1995.] Newsweek, [ Newsweek, "The Whispers of Strangers," June 28, 1993.] Wall Street Journal, [For example, see Wall Street Journal, "Dependency or Death? Oregonians Make a Chilling Choice February 25, 1999.] USA Today, [For example, see USA Today,"Are We Becoming Numb to Kevorkian's Actions?" September 15, 1997.] San Francisco Chronicle, [ For example, see San Francisco Chronicle, " [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/22/INGA9LRSR81.DTL Experimenting With Live Patients] ," October 22,2006.] Seattle Times, [For example, see Seattle Times, " [http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3391 Assisted Suicide is Bad Medicine] ," March 26, 2006.] the New York Post, [For example, see New York Post, "Slanting the Science," June 22, 2001.] and many others. [For full list and URLs of opinion columns since June 2002, see "Articles Archives" at [http://www.wesleyjsmith.com] .]

Brief Biography

Smith practiced law in the San Fernando Valley from 1976-1985, at which time he left lawyering to pursue other interests, particularly as a public policy advocate. His first book in 1987 was "The Lawyer Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Client Survival", which was introduced by consumer advocate Ralph Nader beginning a collaboration between the two men. Smith is a prolific author, and frequent contributor to National Review [For example, see National Review, "Better Dead Than Fed?" June 27, 1994.] and The Weekly Standard [For example, see The Weekly Standard, " [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/684fncgd.asp The Hard Cell] ," September 11, 2006.] . He closely followed the case of Terri Schiavo in 2005, and [http://www.nationalreview.com/smithw/smithw-archive.asp wrote frequently] on the topic. [For example, see The Weekly Standard, " [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/443gtvyx.asp The Legacy of Terri Schiavo] ," April 11, 2005.] He opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia. He is also a noted critic of mainstream views in bioethics, human cloning research, and of what he calls the radical animal liberation movement [ For example, see San Francisco Chronicle" [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/06/18/INGQCJEDCC1.DTL Let Great Apes be Great Apes] ," June 18, 2006.] His book "Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America" was named Best Health Book of the Year at the 2001 Independent Publishers Book Awards. [See Wesley J. Smith Biography [http://www.wesleyjsmith.com] ] .

Smith is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, having appeared on national programs such as Good Morning America and Nightline, as well as internationally on BBC 4. [For partial list of programs, see Wesley J. Smith Biography,www.wesleyjsmith.com.] He has testified as an expert witness in front of federal and state legislative committees, [For example, Smith testified against assisted suicide before the [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2006_record&page=D560&position=all U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, & Property Rights] , May 25, 2006] and is an international public speaker. [For speech venues, see Biography of Wesley J. Smith. Supra.] His blog Secondhand Smoke discusses the issues about which he advocates, as well as promoting the importance of human exceptionalism. He also contributes a biweekly podcast called Brave New Bioethics, which is produced by the Discovery Institute. His work as a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute is with the Project on Human Rights and Bioethics, which seeks to promote universal human rights by opposing eugenics ideas in the fields of bioengineering and medical policies such as medical futility and health care rationing, discrimination in health care, slavery and human trafficking, and granting "rights" to non humans.

Smith is married to the syndicated newspaper columnist, Debra J. Saunders.

Bibliography

* "The Lawyer Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Client Survival"Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1987, ISBN 0-8431-1569-6
* "The Doctor Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Patient Power" Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1988, ISBN 0-89586-747-8
* "The Senior Citizen's Handbook: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to More Comfortable Living" Price Stern Sloan Publishers, 1989, ISBN 0-89586-795-8
* "Winning the Insurance Game" (1990) by Wesley J. Smith and Ralph Nader, ISBN 1-877961-17-5
* "The Frugal Shopper" (1991) Wesley J. Smith and Ralph Nader, ISBN 0-936758-30-9
* "Collision Course: The Truth About Airline Safety" (1993) Wesley J. Smith and Ralph Nader, ISBN 0-8306-4271-4
* "No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America" (1996) Wesley J. Smith and Ralph Nader, ISBN 0-679-42972-7
* "Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder" (1997), ISBN-8129-2790-7
* "Forced Exit: Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and the New Duty to Die" (2006) Encounter Books, ISBN 1-59403-119-3
* "Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America" (2001), ISBN 1-893554-06-6
* "Power Over Pain", co-authored with Eric M. Chevlen, MD, 2002, ISBN 0-9710946-0-8
* "Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World" (2005), ISBN 1-893554-99-6

ee also

*Cloning
*Bioethics
*Ralph Nader
*The President's Council on Bioethics
*Stem Cell Research
*Assisted Suicide
*Animal Liberation
*Human exceptionalism

References

External links

* [http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog Second Hand Smoke Blog]
* [http://www.discovery.org/bioethics Discovery Institute's Bioethics Program]
* [http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/20011114smithTAPE300K.asx Lecture on Euthanasia at Princeton]
* [http://www.discovery.org/v/39 Lecture: "Why Being Human Matters," presented August 16, 2007 at the Discovery Institute]