
blogs


A personal response to the BMA vote on abortion
I was saddened to hear that the BMA have voted to recommend the decriminalisation of abortion. Having…

Reflections on the BMA’s vote to ‘decriminalise’ abortion – ten key observations
Last week delegates at the BMA annual representative meeting (ARM) voted to support the decriminalisation…

How should Christians respond to the transgender issue?
You might think that there are few things more self-evident than the fact that human beings are divided…

Where have all the nurses gone? NMC survey reveals an accelerating attrition of nurses and midwives
It seems sadly ironic that a week after Lord Crisp announced plans for a worldwide campaign to promote…

Over 1,000 doctors reject BMA abortion decriminalisation motion – this is why
Over 1,000 doctors and medical students have signed an open letter urging the British Medical Association…

Good news for freedom of conscience in the UK
For some time we have been concerned at CMF about a possible weakening of conscience protection for pharmacists…

Three myths about Christianity and sexuality
A gay war hero from World War II is chemically castrated, leading to his suicide (The Imitation Game).…

Doctors debate the complete decriminalisation of abortion at BMA ARM
Doctors could back the complete decriminalisation of abortion in Britain next week.
On Tuesday 27 June the…

Reforming the WHO: Can the new General Secretary really be an agent for positive change?
Overshadowed by the coverage of the horrific terrorist attack in Manchester last month, the British media…

Biotechnology companies positioning themselves to make millions from eugenic abortions
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is warning that a new screening test for pregnant women, Non-Invasive…

Getting conscience right and wrong
Can a doctor refuse to participate in something he finds unconscionable? Is this an important liberty…
Two giants are approaching; are we ready for them?
On November 23rd a radical bill to decriminalise abortion and impose it on Northern Ireland was stopped in its tracks thanks to opposition led by Christopher Chope MP. The status quo is preserved for now – but it’s no time for us to rest on our laurels. The Royal College of General Practitioners has just stated: “The College will now work with […]
Surrogacy: A selfless gift… or something more?
Surrogacy is often portrayed as a compassionate and beautiful act, a selfless gift, where a woman carries a child for a couple or an individual who are unable to have their own children. On the surface it appears to be a great act of kindness. However, beyond the superficial, there are troubling aspects of surrogacy […]
New Abortion Advice to Schools: Fact or Fiction?
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has produced a new factsheet on abortion to support Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools. This ‘aims to ensure that professionals involved in educating young people on abortion do so ‘…with honest and medically accurate information…[which] distinguishes between fact and fiction.’ Since this new factsheet is […]
‘Abortion does not cause mental illness’. Discuss.
A new factsheet produced for schools by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) states as one of the ‘myth buster‘ headlines that ‘abortion does not cause mental illness’. Underneath the headline they explain: Successive studies and research reviews have demonstrated that the experience of […]
A stark warning to UK doctors from Canada
A recent legal ruling in Canada is a strong warning for British medical professionals who conscientiously object to involvement in abortion, or who would do so with assisted suicide if it were ever legalised. In 2018 the Ontario Superior Court ruled that healthcare professionals who refuse to carry out abortions (and euthanasia) must refer patients […]
After Three Decades The Department of Health Recognises Fetal Pain
The eighteenth century philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, wrote of animals: ‘The question is not Can they reason?, not Can they talk?, but Can they suffer?’ Professors Glover and Fisk, in their 2005 paper ‘Fetal Pain: Implications for research and practice’ say that this caused a change in attitude towards animals and their treatment that is continuing […]
The risks of neutrality on assisted suicide – lessons from abroad
Medicine has held a long-established opposition to assistance with suicide. Ira Byock, an American Palliative care physician, believes this is necessary so that: ‘the power of medicine is not used against vulnerable people’. One of the roles of medicine is the need to balance our duties to the individual with our duties to society. This is […]
Why the Royal College of Physicians will go ‘neutral’ on assisted suicide and why that matters
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is going to poll its 35,000 members to ask whether ‘they would help a terminally ill patient to die and whether the law should be changed to allow assisted dying.’ Why, despite the RCP polling all its members just a few years ago with the same question, has it […]
A good day to bury bad news? New CANH guidance released by BMA
When Jo Moore infamously sent a memo saying in effect that 11 September 2001 was a good day to bury bad news, she inadvertently lifted the veil on a time honoured practice of releasing news and reports in the midst of major national or world events in the hope that the news media fail to […]
Is British aid money being spent on funding illegal abortions?
Soon after authorities in Kenya banned Marie Stopes Kenya from carrying out abortions in Kenya, Niger also ordered the closure of some centres run by Marie Stopes International (MSI) on the grounds that MSI was illegally performing abortions there. Kenya and Niger are not the first countries to become victims of the abortion giant. In […]
Marie Stopes guilty of carrying out illegal abortions…again
This week, it hit the headlines that authorities in Kenya have forbidden Marie Stopes International(MSI) from carrying out abortions in Kenya. The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) issued this order after it was noted that Marie Stopes was advertising abortion services, despite a prohibition on all abortion advertising. Earlier this year, the Kenya […]
Diana Johnson’s Bill could return women to the perils of ‘back street’ abortion days
Today, 23 October 2018, Diana Johnson MP introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill to decriminalise abortion in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (NI). The bill was given leave to proceed to a Second Reading by 208 votes to 123. (179 Labour MPs voted for the bill and 108 Tory MPs voted against so the vote […]