
blogs


Embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos – six reasons for caution
The newspapers are full today of the news that scientists in the US state of Oregon have produced embryonic…

Joy, sorrow and satisfaction – medical mission in Ecuador
My own personal journey to becoming a medical missionary began when I finished secondary school and went…

It’s exam time! Can smart drugs make you smarter at this testing time?
While a cup of strong coffee is probably the choice of drink for most people studying for exams, perhaps…

The ‘Groningen protocol’ for euthanasia of disabled babies in the Netherlands
In an interview this morning on BBC Five Live (at 0705) on the Paul Lamb case (listen here) I was asked…

Don’t be fooled by Lord Falconer’s ‘modest’ assisted suicide proposals
Lord Falconer has finally announced that his long awaited assisted suicide bill will be tabled in the…

Doctors should not be forced to provide emergency contraception
The Independent has run the story of a ‘Christian-run NHS GP surgery’ which has apparently ‘attracted…

Several leading bioethicists defend the practice of infanticide this week in leading medical journal
In February 2012 two bioethicists provoked international outrage with an article advocating infanticide.
Writing…

Marie Fleming loses Supreme Court appeal challenging ban on assisted suicide
A 59-year-old Irish woman today lost her Supreme Court challenge to the ban on assisted suicide.
Marie…

What the UK needs to learn from the worldwide Church
Last week there was a meeting between David Cameron and leaders of major UK NGOs on the process to find…

GMC and RCM must now move urgently to review their abortion guidance in light of Glasgow midwives court ruling
Two Roman Catholic midwives have today won a landmark legal battle to avoid taking any part in abortion…

Losing trust – why immunisation programmes fail
What do South Wales, North Nigeria and Northwest Pakistan have in common? They all have outbreaks of…
The Prime Minister’s transgender proposals dangerously oversimplify a complex mental health issue
The Government’s public consultation on possible means to make it simpler and easier for people in England and Wales to change their legal gender concludes on 19 October. Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she wants ‘to see a process that is more streamlined and de-medicalised – because being trans should never be treated […]
The ‘unmet need’ for contraception and abortion in the developing world
This summer, Theresa May committed to spend £200 million on ‘family planning’ in Africa and Asia. More accurately, I should say ‘another’ £200 million, because the UK Government has already given vast sums of foreign development money to abortion giant Marie Stopes International (MSI): £163 million in UK taxpayer money. And it is not just […]
Christian doctors unite worldwide to challenge WMA on conscience rights
The International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) has called on the World Medical Association (WMA) to protect doctors’ conscience rights on abortion and euthanasia. ICMDA, which unites national associations of doctors and dentists in over 80 countries, was responding to a move by Canadian and Dutch doctors to challenge the WMA’s longstanding commitment […]
Journey into darkness – Transplants, markets and trafficking
When in 2016, an editor from a leading academic publisher approached me about contributing a book chapter on the ethics of organ markets, I readily agreed thinking that this would entail little more than many other previous commissions. With most bioethical issues, the arguments pro and con are usually abstractions to be weighed and evaluated […]
Sex education and the myth of neutrality
The Department for Education is drafting guidance for schools who are now required to teach Relationships Education (RE) at primary school and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) at secondary school. It is seeking views from the public on these drafts before they are put before Parliament and the final guidance is published. This is an […]
Abortion pills: simple and safe or dangerous and damaging?
Many abortion activists will have been delighted at the news that women will be able to self- administer abortion pills in their own homes. The head of the RCOG is on record claiming that having an abortion is no different to having a bunion removed. Ironically, with this change that activists have been campaigning for, […]
New draft guidance from the BMA will enable doctors to dehydrate and sedate to death large numbers of non-dying patients with dementia, stroke or brain damage
This story was broken on 14 August 2018 by the Daily Mail. Is it justifiable to withdraw food and fluids from patients with dementia, stroke and brain injury who are not imminently dying? New ‘confidential’ draft guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) – the doctors’ trade union – says ‘yes’ provided that a doctor believes […]
Severely brain-damaged patients are commonly misdiagnosed, often aware and may well recover, says authoritative new report
People with severe brain damage are difficult to diagnose reliably, not uncommonly recover and are often much more aware than we think. Specifically: Four in ten people who are thought to be unconscious are actually aware One in five people with severe brain injury from trauma will recover to the point that […]
Dignity in Dying’s response to last week’s Supreme Court ruling reveals its real agenda
The former Voluntary Euthanasia Society, re-branded ‘Dignity in Dying’ (DID) in 2006, in order to disguise its real objectives, has always been quick to emphasise that it only supports a change in the law to allow so-called ‘assisted dying’. By this it means allowing mentally competent adults with less than six months to live to […]
Supreme Court rules that doctors can remove food and fluids from patients with permanent vegetative state, without going to court
My Radio Four Today programme interview on this case is here, and my interview with BBC Radio Five Live is here. Should doctors be able to withdraw food and fluids from severely brain-damaged people who are not imminently dying? And if so, in what circumstances? The answer to these questions has changed significantly today because of […]
A 40th Birthday for IVF
On 25 July Louise Brown, the world’s first baby born via in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), celebrates her 40th birthday. 40 years after her birth it is estimated that more than seven million babies have been born as a result of IVF and other assisted reproduction treatments. Around 2.4 million assisted reproductive technologies (ART) cycles are estimated to take place each […]
Extending abortion into Northern Ireland – should or shouldn’t we?
At their annual meeting in June the BMA planned an emergency debate to consider the extension of the Abortion Act 967 to Northern Ireland. As it happened, the debate did not take place due to lack of time, however it reflects how much momentum and pressure there now is to change Northern Irish abortion law. […]