'Merciful Release': The History of the British Euthanasia Movement by N.D.A. Kemp (Manchester University Press, $74.95 (US), 288 pages). Review by Ian R. Dowbiggin The Interim It seems that hardly a day goes by without euthanasia making front-page news. Taken from the Greek word for "good death," euthanasia is one of the most contentious, hot-button issues today. Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands [...]
Richard John Neuhaus Special to The InterimThe defenders of judicial activism, properly understood as the judicial usurpation of politics, count on wearing down their critics over time. Robert H. Bork is not easily worn down. He returns to the battle with a new book, Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges (AEI, 159 pp., $25). Not only in America, but throughout the [...]
Abortion The Minnesota Medical Association calls a state health department website mentioning studies linking abortion and breast cancer "misleading" and "confusing," while the state branch of the American College of Obstretricians and Gynecologists says the site is deceptive. The health department also claims there are studies that say there is no link ... The Centre for Reproductive Rights tells Focus on the Family, the Catholic Family [...]
Sex-selection IVF FAIRFAX, Va. - The Genetics and IVF Institute is conducting a Food and Drug Administration-endorsed clinical trial of the new Microsort technology for sex-selection of embryos created using in-vitro fertilization. Thus far, 400 couples have signed on to the trial, which is nearly half-way to completion. The Microsort technique for sex-selection involves using dye to mark sperm and a laser [...]
Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft has said about the problem of suffering and injustice: "God's answer is not an explanation, but a deed." Kreeft, of course, was talking about the Crucifixion of Christ. This month, we begin the season of Lent and Father Ted Colleton explains the significance of this in his column. Fittingly, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is [...]
The National Citizen's Coalition, a pro-free market, pro-individual liberty organization, goes to court in February to oppose the federal "gag law." Its fight is for freedom of speech and freedom of expression during election campaigns. Its fight is also our fight. The law limits how much money an organization or individual can spend to put out issue ads or other political activities [...]
Review by John-Henry Westen The Interim 'I felt like a visionary, or like I was in a time machine," was the reaction of the lady next to me at the preview of The Passion of the Christ. The weight of Pope John Paul II's reported reflection after seeing the film: - "It is as it was" - was brought home during an [...]