http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/ Latest entries from Peter Saunders' Blog en-gb webmaster@cmf.org.uk (CMF Webmaster) 60 http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/21/stalinist_tactics_must_be_resisted.html Gordon Brown announced yesterday that he would not be allowing a conscience vote on any of the controversial moral issues within the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. In so doing he ignored requests for a free vote from the leader of the opposition , from other MPs including those within his own party, from 108 professors with varying views on the bill itself and from Cardinal O'Brien . The government is now headed for it biggest confrontation yet with the Catholic Church. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/21/stalinist_tactics_must_be_resisted.html http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/20/the_french_lady__a_tragic_hard_case.html Chantal Sebire was a 52-year old former teacher and mother of three, who had hoped to set a legal precedent in France for patients seeking 'medical help' to end their own lives. She was suffering from esthesioneuroblastoma , a rare malignancy of the nasal cavity, which had left her face horribly disfigured and partially blind. A court in Dijon, Burgundy, had ruled against allowing a doctor to help her take a lethal dose of barbiturates. She was then found dead at home this morning, presumably having taken her own life, although this has not been confirmed. Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/20/the_french_lady__a_tragic_hard_case.html http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/18/royal_college_of_psychiatrists_changes_view_on_abortion_and_mental_health.html Are there are psychiatric grounds for abortion? Does abortion lead to mental health problems? Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/18/royal_college_of_psychiatrists_changes_view_on_abortion_and_mental_health.html http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/17/cameron_backs_abortion_for_disabled_up_to_birth_and_bottles_out_on_hfe_bill.html David Cameron is to be commended for backing the campaign to lower the upper abortion upper limit for 'normal' babies from 24 to 20 weeks; but he has today said that he thinks that disabled babies should continue to be aborted up until birth, even for minor correctible abnormalities like cleft palate and club foot. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/17/cameron_backs_abortion_for_disabled_up_to_birth_and_bottles_out_on_hfe_bill.html http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/10/embryonic_stem_cells__the_government_is_driving_us_up_a_dead_end_street.html It is now nine years since the publication of the 1999 Donaldson Report, on which the government based its current policy on stem cells. Embryonic stem cells were apparently going to provide miracle cures for people with degenerative diseases like Parkinsons, Diabetes and Alzheimers. Immunologically compatible stem cells were going to be produced by therapeutic cloning, the same technology that produced Dolly the sheep. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2008/3/10/embryonic_stem_cells__the_government_is_driving_us_up_a_dead_end_street.html http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2007/12/1/the_human_fertilisation_and_embryology_bill.html The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, currently at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, will open up the entire 1967 Abortion Act to amendment. Pro-choice MPs have pledged to liberalise the law and marked the Act's 40th anniversary on 27 October 2007 with a push to bring in 'abortion on request' (along with nurse and home abortion) in the first trimester. Sat, 1 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT http://www.cmf.org.uk/blogs/petersaunders/2007/12/1/the_human_fertilisation_and_embryology_bill.html