Severing Our Roots
The Little Fool by Karen Swenholt. Image by Ian Riley Photography.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
A couple of years ago, I was encouraged to meet a figurative artist (sculptress, in this case). So I drove many hours to meet Karen Swenholt, and the drive was worth it. One of her pieces is pictured above. It is a metaphor that resonates with many of us: the man feels rooted, bound to the earth, or his circumstances, etc., and yearns to be free. So he takes an instrument into his hand — a knife — to free himself from his hateful condition, not ...read more
Physician-Assisted Suicide: NOT Exactly What Its Proponents Advertise It To Be
This Australian stamp was issued in celebration of the General Assembly of World Medical Associations almost 50 years ago. At that time, the hypodermic syringe was a symbol of cure. Now, the picture of gloved hands administering an injection can represent something much more menacing.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
The topic of physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) is a persistent one, especially when people are in pain or are worried about impending death. We need to think deeply and well about this issue. To help, the Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture is addressing P-AS from a different perspective for the second time in as many ...read more
Book Review: Ghost Boy
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
How do we treat the vulnerable among us? Ghost Boy, by Martin Pistorius with Megan Lloyd Davies, is an excellent book to help us explore this question.
Martin Pistorious was a 12-year-old South African school boy when he became ill in 1988. Over the next year, he became wheelchair bound and mute, and spent much of his time over the next 14 years in institutions. That is not the end of the story, however, and he, with Megan Lloyd Davies, tells the story of his awakening and subsequent life in Ghost Boy (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2013).
Martin’s inability to ...read more
Lord Robert Winston’s Fertility Warning — TVNZ ONENEWS
Lord Robert Winston’s TVNZ Breakfast Interview is here.
Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes — NYT
By Adam Liptak — read the story here
Published 13 June 2013
Myriad Genetics CEO Claims He Owns Your Genes — Forbes
Steven Salzberg, Contributor
Published 13 April 2013
Article here.
Philadelphia Abortion Clinic Horror: Column — USAtoday.com
By Kirsten Powers
Originally published 11 April 2013
We’ve forgotten what belongs on Page One.
Sowing the Seeds
Sowing the Seeds Commissioned work by Carol Harkness for The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture
“Sowing the Seeds, Reaping the Whirlwind” is a metaphoric illustration depicting the consequences of human commodification. Commodification of humans means treating human bodies or body parts as something to be bought, sold, or in some way exchanged in a kind of market. This can occur in a variety of ways, as pictured from left to right:
unFAIR TRADE: obvious evils in abuse of humans
ONE WORLD: “socially acceptable,” potentially attainable human goods seen as “compassionate” in their use
C’est moi Boutique: ...read more