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Listen Now Monday, August 28, 2017
Penna Dexter hosts today’s show and her first guest is Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow in Human Rights and Bioethics at the Discovery Institute. He discusses the issue of physician assisted suicide.
In the second hour, we hear from Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director at Judicial Crisis Network. She tells us more about gridlock reform.
Penna Dexter
Point of View Co-Host, Penna Dexter frequently sits in as guest host for Kerby Anderson. Her weekly commentaries air on the Bott Radio Network. Penna’s heart is in educating and encouraging Christians to influence the culture and politics. She worked as a consultant overseeing the launch and production of the Family Research Council’s nationally syndicated radio program, Washington Watch Weekly. For eight yearsRead More
Guests
Wesley J. Smith
Senior Fellow - Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism
Lawyer and award winning author, Wesley J. Smith, is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. He is also a consultant to the Patients Rights Council. In May 2004, because of his work in bioethics, Smith was named one of the nation’s premier expert thinkers in bio-engineering by the National Journal.
The Young and the Vulnerable
When I was a small boy, polio terrified me. Each year, it would strike thousands of children like me—and you never knew when or where it would hit next. In the 1952 epidemic, a very bad year, there were nearly 60,000 reported cases in the United States and more than 3,000 deaths.
Summer was the worst time, and I recall my parents’ tension as “polio season” approached. Most vividly, I remember my horror at the prospect of being encased in an iron lung. I had seen the photographs: hospital wards with children in iron lungs, only their heads visible outside the great metal beast, a mirror strategically angled so they could view their immediate surroundings.
Summer was the worst time, and I recall my parents’ tension as “polio season” approached. Most vividly, I remember my horror at the prospect of being encased in an iron lung. I had seen the photographs: hospital wards with children in iron lungs, only their heads visible outside the great metal beast, a mirror strategically angled so they could view their immediate surroundings.
California Hospital Sued for Refusing to Assist Suicide
This lawsuit is a little before its time.
Should assisted suicide become widely accepted in this country, activists will try to force all doctors to participate–either by doing the deed or referring to a doctor known to be willing to lethally prescribe.
But it isn’t yet, and so the pretense of the movement that they only want an itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy change in mores and law continues as SOP.
But sometimes they show their true intentions. Thus, when UCSF oncologists refused to assist a cancer patient’s suicide, the woman died of her disease. Now, her family is suing–using the same attorney (Kathryn Tucker) who tried (unsuccessfully) to obtain an assisted suicide Roe v Wade in 1997 and has brought other pro-assisted suicide cases around the country. From the San Francisco Chronicle story:
Should assisted suicide become widely accepted in this country, activists will try to force all doctors to participate–either by doing the deed or referring to a doctor known to be willing to lethally prescribe.
But it isn’t yet, and so the pretense of the movement that they only want an itsy-bitsy, teensy-weensy change in mores and law continues as SOP.
But sometimes they show their true intentions. Thus, when UCSF oncologists refused to assist a cancer patient’s suicide, the woman died of her disease. Now, her family is suing–using the same attorney (Kathryn Tucker) who tried (unsuccessfully) to obtain an assisted suicide Roe v Wade in 1997 and has brought other pro-assisted suicide cases around the country. From the San Francisco Chronicle story:
Carrie Severino
Chief Counsel and Policy Director - Judicial Crisis Network
Carrie Severino is chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network. In that capacity she has testified before Congress on assorted constitutional issues and briefed Senators on judicial nominations. Mrs. Severino has been extensively quoted in the media and regularly appeared on television, including MSNBC, FOX, CNN, C-SPAN and ABC’s This Week. She has written and spoken on a wide range of judicial issues, particularly the constitutional limits on government, the federal nomination process, and state judicial selection. Mrs. Severino regularly files briefs in high-profile Supreme Court cases.
Until March 2010, Mrs. Severino was an Olin/Searle Fellow and a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center. She was previously a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, cum laude, of Duke University, and holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Michigan State University.
Until March 2010, Mrs. Severino was an Olin/Searle Fellow and a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center. She was previously a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, cum laude, of Duke University, and holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Michigan State University.
Judicial Confirmations
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has a proposal to change to how the Senate confirms presidential nominees for federal judgeships and the executive branch. It would break the gridlock that has sparked a nationwide campaign to staff the bench and federal government.
A record number of President Donald Trump’s nominations to fill top positions in the federal government—including key positions such as those in the State Department, Defense Department, Treasury Department, and Justice Department—are being slow-walked in the U.S. Senate, preventing the three million employees of the federal government from carrying out vital parts of the president’s agenda.
Article II of the Constitution requires that all federal judges and high-ranking administration officials are nominated by the president, and then must be confirmed by the Senate.
A record number of President Donald Trump’s nominations to fill top positions in the federal government—including key positions such as those in the State Department, Defense Department, Treasury Department, and Justice Department—are being slow-walked in the U.S. Senate, preventing the three million employees of the federal government from carrying out vital parts of the president’s agenda.
Article II of the Constitution requires that all federal judges and high-ranking administration officials are nominated by the president, and then must be confirmed by the Senate.
Hurricane Harvey
HOUSTON—A split between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner over whether the metropolis should have been evacuated is raising questions about officials’ response to damaging floodwaters as a catastrophe continues to engulf the region.
Mr. Turner, a Democrat, and other local officials urged residents to stay in their homes as Hurricane Harvey, which has since downgraded to a tropical storm, approached Houston on Friday.
But at a Friday news conference, Gov. Abbott, a Republican, suggested otherwise. “Even if an evacuation order hasn’t been issued by your local official, if you’re in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating.”
Mr. Turner, a Democrat, and other local officials urged residents to stay in their homes as Hurricane Harvey, which has since downgraded to a tropical storm, approached Houston on Friday.
But at a Friday news conference, Gov. Abbott, a Republican, suggested otherwise. “Even if an evacuation order hasn’t been issued by your local official, if you’re in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating.”
Disaster Relief for Hurricane Harvey Victims
Point of View is partnering with Samaritan's Purse to provide relief for the victims of this disaster. Please make a generous donation today to help meet the most immediate needs of those who are hurting. And please keep both the victims and the first responders in your prayers.
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