
blogs


British Medical Journal publishes my reply to its article on CMF and faith discussions with patients
A couple of weeks ago the British Medical Journal published an article in its Lobby Watch column about…

New pre-natal screening test makes eliminating all people with genetic disease an achievable reality
‘Fetal DNA tests: Are we finally entering an era of eugenics?’ This was the question raised by Nancy…

Christian pharmacists under threat from new guidelines on morning-after pill provision
Christian pharmacists who object to dispensing the morning-after pill are facing pressure from their…

London hospital backs down from forcing Christian nurses to participate in abortion after receiving lawyer’s letter
A London hospital which tried to force two Christian nurses to participate in abortion has backed down…

Commercials of convenience – plans to advertise abortion on TV and radio contested
HG Wells once said that 'advertising is legalised lying'. He would not have been thinking of TV adverts…

China vows crackdown on sex-selective abortion to close gender gap
You are unlikely to read this from any British media outlet in the midst of the London riots and falling…

Thriving 5-year old born at 23 weeks fuels calls for lowering of upper abortion limit
The mother of a boy, now five years old, who was born prematurely at 23 weeks gestation, has again ignited…

Dignity in Dying blog opts for assisted death after suffering unbearably
The Dignity in Dying blog has opted for assisted suicide after apparently suffering unbearably from a…

Matt Hampson – awe-inspiring article in Sunday Times on coping with tetraplegia
'Engage!' was the last word Matt Hampson heard before dislocating his neck while in rugby training with…

A politically incorrect final solution for Britain’s growing elderly population
The BBC has reminded us this week that today's 20-year-olds are three times more likely to live to…

Marketing tactics used by BPAS and MSI to increase abortion pressure
My attention has just been drawn to a new report by Right to Know (RTK) which reveals the pressure that…
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. […]