
blogs


The government’s new ‘prevent duty guidance’ – imposing political correctness on university groups
The Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, currently being considered by the House of…

Freedom of conscience in the new Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct
A new year seems a good time to launch a new set of guidelines, and the NMC have chosen this January…

Disaster response: Malawi faces floods
Many people here daily live life on the edge, so it doesn’t take much to push it over into…

Why abortion is not the best solution for pregnancy following rape or incest
This incredibly difficult and sensitive issue has come into public discussion again as the Northern…

Why have we become so scared of disability?
When I went to see the midwife at 36 weeks of pregnancy, I did not expect to find myself leaving in…

Buffer zones – a form of subverting freedom of speech and real choice
It would appear that once again, liberties are under threat of being curtailed by the proponents of…

Ebola: Christmas is cancelled
As many of us stop work and get ready to enjoy Christmas, let’s spare a thought for the people of…

Conscientious Objection and the worrying implications of the Glasgow midwives case
The right for health professionals to exercise their conscientious objection to participating…

Ebola: dispatches from the frontline
CMF member Sam Dunnet is working as Staff Health Manager for Save the Children in Sierra Leone. Here…

Court rules that unborn babies are ‘organisms’: a look behind the headlines
Seven years ago, a baby girl (who cannot be named for legal reasons) was born to a 19 year old mother…

Censuring debate and free speech at Oxford University
Not for the first time, a college at a top UK university has completely shut down an attempt to organise…
Surrogacy: Isn’t there a better way?
A major consultation on surrogacy is proposing significant – and concerning – changes to the law and regulation of surrogacy arrangements in the UK. Back in 2017, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission were asked to conduct a review of the law governing surrogacy. They have undoubtedly done a […]
Abortion pill reversal: a chance for a change of mind
How many of us have ever made a really big decision in life and then changed our mind? I suspect quite a few of us. And if there was any ambivalence in the initial decision, then a subsequent change of mind is even more possible. In which case, decisions on abortion, especially if made with […]
About time! Australian doctors to investigate transgender treatments for kids
It’s about time. A national inquiry into the safety and ethics of transgender medicine in Australia will be conducted by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians with the backing of Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. At the moment there are no nationally agreed standards, although guidelines issued by Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital gender clinic have […]
Surrogacy: asking the questions no-one wants to ask (or answer)
In June, the Law Commission published a consultation document on surrogacy, which is still open for submissions. The premise of the consultation – and indeed of the Government – is that surrogacy is a positive, family-building, option but the current law is too restrictive and needs to be ‘reformed’. The Consultation paper could hardly be clearer with […]
Still time for some late summer reading: two books for holiday packing
A book on the impact of new ideologies on European culture and another on their impact on Africa and international development should be relevant for quite a few holiday destinations. Two books that I have recently read have been hugely informative – and challenging. I would love many others to read them too, so […]
Defending freedom of conscience on emergency contraception
The UK’s biggest abortion provider, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), has attacked pharmacists who do not sell the ‘morning after pill’ for conscience reasons. After one incident where a pharmacist would not dispense emergency contraception to a woman for ‘personal’ reasons, BPAS condemned both the pharmacist and the conscience protections provided to pharmacists. A petition […]
What happens when a rat has a drug induced medical abortion?
The rat is a valuable animal model of human disease. Humans and rats share many common genetic features and by examining the physiology, neurology, neurophysiology and the resulting behaviours such as the response to stress, of a rat, scientists can gain valuable insights into how humans function. The rat is one of the primary models for […]
Will a robot look after you one day?
This is not a theoretical question. Robots are already widely used as ‘carers’ in Japan, the UK has a rapidly ageing population, an average of 900 care workers per day are leaving the profession due to low wages and tough conditions and there is a severe lack of new care workers joining the profession. Enter the […]
Marie Stopes: history erases ugly facts to create a mythical feminist hero
For some, the name Marie Stopes speaks of one of the biggest abortion providers in the world. For others, it speaks of a person, a feminist icon and pioneer for birth control and family planning. Both are true, but few people know about Marie Stopes the woman, the author, palaeobotanist, family planning pioneer, and eugenicist. […]
Prenatal Screening and Down Syndrome – million-dollar ethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent think tank on bioethics, launched their report on the ethical issues of NIPT(non-invasive prenatal testing) in 2017. NIPT, a new more accurate way of screening for Down syndrome, is part of the genetic testing market, predicted to grow to a value of $22 billion by 2024. NIPT raises […]
Why is Royal College of GP’s so keen to decriminalise abortion?
In February the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) announced their support for the decriminalisation of abortion. This decision was based on a poll, which only 8.2% of their 53,724 members responded to. 62% of those responding said they supported decriminalisation. The RCGP now joins the British Medical Association, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, […]
Puberty Blockers: a societal experiment built on sand
Stories abound on social media. Documentaries and podcasts open the lid on the growing phenomenon of gender dysphoric children presenting in greater and greater numbers. In our field many of us hear first-hand the heart-breaking stories of children struggling with their gender identity and share a deep concern for their welfare. Last year around 2,000 […]