Tag: advance directive

Hands of an elderly man resting on a walking cane

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
September 21, 2025

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, advance directive, Alzheimer’s disease, antibiotics, burden, dementia, dementia patients, doula, hospice, killing, nursing, palliative care, patients, suffering, suicide, Thaddeus Mason Pope}

Will We Care For or Kill Dementia Patients?

_{Wesley J. Smith
September 21, 2025

Bioethics, Medicine

2}

I understand that people are terrified of dementia. Believe me, I get it. My mother died of Alzheimer’s. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
March 26, 2025

Categories
Bioethics
Neuroscience & Mind
Science Reporting
Tagged
, abortion, advance directive, Arthur Caplan, assisted suicide, Bobby Schindler, culture of death, dehydration, disability rights, Dominic Sisti, euthanasia, fluids, food, gender-affirming care, Hastings Center, Humanize, Michael Schiavo, parents, pro-life movement, Roe v. Wade, self-starvation and dehydration, siblings, sustenance, Terri Schiavo, Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network, vaccine mandates, water}

Schiavo Case Was a Terrible Cultural Tipping Point

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 26, 2025

Bioethics, Neuroscience & Mind, Science Reporting

4}

The case elevated the culture of death into a conflagration. It boosted the passage of assisted suicide laws. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
March 29, 2023

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Science
Tagged
, advance directive, California, Canada, Colorado, compassion, Connecticut, dehydration, disabilities, District of Columbia, euthanasia, feeding tube, Hawaii, heart, human life, kidneys, liver, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, mental illness, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, new york, nihilism, Oregon, organ transplant, pancreas, Rhode Island, suicide tourism, Terri Schiavo, Vermont, VSED}

A Culture-of-Death Tipping Point

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 29, 2023

Bioethics, Medicine, Science

5}

A legal battle raged for several years during which the country agonized and argued about the right and moral course. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
June 12, 2022

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, advance directive, Belgium, Canada, culture, dementia, disability, disease, doctors, euthanasia, illness, killing, Netherlands, nurse practitioner, patients}

Canadian Bill to Allow Euthanasia of Dementia Patients

_{Wesley J. Smith
June 12, 2022

Bioethics, Medicine

2}

If the patient resists, the killing is not supposed to take place. Right. As though the person would know what was happening. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
April 21, 2020

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, __k-review, advance directive, Alzheimer’s disease, assisted suicide, dementia, despair, disabilities, doctors, family, infanticide, killing, legislation, lethal injection, mental illness, Netherlands, organ harvesting, patients, Reuters}

Dutch Supreme Court Approves Euthanasia for Dementia

_{Wesley J. Smith
April 21, 2020

Bioethics, Medicine

2}

The Reuters story leaves out some details. The doctor had drugged the woman before starting to euthanize her, and instructed the family to hold the struggling patient down. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
May 19, 2019

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, __k-review, abortion, advance directive, American Academy of Pediatrics, assisted suicide, authoritarianism, child abuse, circumcision, doctors, Hippocratic Oath, medical conscience, New York Times, patients, puberty}

Medical Conscience for Me, but Not for Thee

_{Wesley J. Smith
May 19, 2019

Bioethics, Medicine

4}

The more elective the desired intervention, the greater should be the right of medical conscience. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
April 30, 2019

Categories
Medicine
Tagged
, __k-review, advance directive, assisted suicide, Belgium, Canada, children, dementia, doctors, euthanasia, homicide, lethal injection, mentally ill, Netherlands, Nunavut, patients, Quebec, United States, Yukon}

In Canada, Medical Doctors Kill Thousands in 2018

_{Wesley J. Smith
April 30, 2019

Medicine

2}

If 1.12 percent of our deaths in the U.S. were doctor-homicides, it would amount to nearly 30,000. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
April 8, 2019

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, __k-review, advance directive, assisted suicide, Compassion and Choices, dementia, doctors, dying, eating, euthanasia, feeding tube, fluids, food, Hemlock Society, interpretation, nourishment, nurses, patients, treatment}

“Starve Me” Advance Directive Would Be Immoral

_{Wesley J. Smith
April 8, 2019

Bioethics, Medicine

4}

Many of these provisions are, to say the least, subject to interpretation. And people with dementia may refuse food one meal, and accept the next. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
March 4, 2018

Categories
Bioethics
Tagged
, __k-review, advance directive, aesthetics, animal rights, bioethics.net, CPR, dog, Human, litigation, pets, speciesism}

Should EMTs Save a Human or a Dog First?

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 4, 2018

Bioethics

3}

Bioethicists never cease to entertain — if some of the dangerous views pushed by this mainstream movement can be considered “entertaining.” Read More ›