"Laissez-faire eugenics" Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America.(Review)

Reviewed by Dave Andrusko

"...[T]he dignity of life has come under assault in recent years from people who regard the right to life as provisional - - something that withers away when a person falls ill, loses mental faculties or is too young to survive the cold, cruel world. Such thinking turns every able-bodied American into a candidate for `compassionate' murder, should he or she suffer a grave injury or fall prey to the natural ravages of age. It also puts Americans with disabilities on the endangered species list. The sure tip-off for such thinking is the aggressive and jarring use of euphemism."

Tony Snow, April 30, Washington Times

"Bioethics presents us with a true ideological conflict, albeit one of which most people remain unaware."

Wesley J. Smith

Wesley Smith's latest book, Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America, is one of those just-in-the-nick-of-time contributions whose value to those of us engaged in daily hand-to-hand combat against what Smith labels "medical cleansing" is incalculable. Do yourself and the millions of medically vulnerable people in America a huge favor and immediately purchase Smith's ninth book. (Culture of Death is available at bookstores. If the store is sold out, you can special order the book. Other options include going to the publisher's web page at www.encounterbooks.com; calling the order number, 1-800-786-3839; or going to www. amazon.com.)

Written by a passionately committed advocate determined to shape public policy in a more life-affirming direction, Culture of Death has a number of agendas. Clearly at the top of Smith's to-do list is rending the veil that hides the inner sanctum of a new secular priesthood: the professional bioethicist.