
blogs


Prenatal Screening and Down Syndrome – million-dollar ethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent think tank on bioethics, launched their report on the…

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…

Puberty Blockers: a societal experiment built on sand
Stories abound on social media. Documentaries and podcasts open the lid on the growing phenomenon of…

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…

Surrogacy: A selfless gift… or something more?
Surrogacy is often portrayed as a compassionate and beautiful act, a selfless gift, where a woman carries…

New Abortion Advice to Schools: Fact or Fiction?
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has produced a new factsheet on abortion…

‘Abortion does not cause mental illness’. Discuss.
A new factsheet produced for schools by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)…

A stark warning to UK doctors from Canada
A recent legal ruling in Canada is a strong warning for British medical professionals who conscientiously…

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…

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…

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…
Happy Birthday NHS: Let’s not let a national good become a national god
Today (5 July 2018) marks seventy years since the world’s first, free-at-the-point of delivery, universal access, national healthcare system was launched. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has become so much a part of the fabric of British life and culture in those seven decades that it is regularly cited in surveys of the British public […]
How to live longer, healthier and happier
It would be hard to have missed some of the recent glut of news articles on the importance of physical activity for health and wellbeing. The latest official government press release this week, from Public Health England in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, encourages adults to improve their general health and wellbeing […]
20 abortions every hour – still not enough to satisfy the abortion business
The latest Government statistics reveal yet another rise in the number of abortions in England and Wales, showing a 2.3% increase from 2016 to 2017. A total of 194,668 abortions in 2017 now brings the number since 1967 to some 9,000,000 abortions. That’s approximately 1 every 3 minutes. 20 every hour. 600 every working day. […]
Stifling Dissent
Behind the statue of George Orwell, author of Animal Farm, outside Broadcasting House in London, are inscribed the words from his preface to that book: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ Stifling dissent is of particular concern in science and medicine, where […]
Abortion pills outside medical supervision? That’s just the start
The current campaign to remove the administration of the abortion pill, misoprostol, from medical supervision and oversight is part of a long-term goal for abortion activists. Their goal is to bypass medical professionals in the process of medical abortion and remove as many legal restrictions on abortion as possible. This will be achieved step by […]
Alfie Evans has a progressive incurable illness but his parents should not be stopped from doing what they believe is best for him
Hear my Premier Radio interview on this case here. Alfie Evans was admitted to Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool in December 2016 suffering from seizures. He was found to have a (still undiagnosed) progressive neurodegenerative disease and has now been in a semi-vegetative state for more than a year. During that time, he has been on a ventilator in […]
Transplants: are the donors really, truly dead?
Organ donation has hit the headlines recently following a debate in Parliament. The Mirror claimed much of the glory with its headline: ‘’We did it!’ Organ transplant Bill to save up to 500 lives a year in England passes crucial Commons hurdle’ However, I have read nothing on the medical aspects of it, on the […]
Back to the backstreets with abortion
After successful lobbying by abortion providers, women in Scotland are now allowed to take the abortion pill at home, in a first for the UK. Since 83% of abortions in Scotland use medical methods (abortion pills) this will have a significant impact. I’ve recently blogged on this change in Scotland, citing medical concerns with allowing […]
Global Health Challenges for the Year Ahead
A year ago, I blogged about some of the global health challenges that Christians and Christian organisations would be facing in 2017. At the start of 2018 I thought it would be good to revisit some of those issues and look to others that are emerging in the coming year. Changing Aid Climate As predicted […]
Protecting Freedom of Conscience
As Christians we are called to respect the governing authorities as they are instituted by God himself (Romans 13:1,2). But are there limits? What should we do if they try to force us to do something we believe is wrong? The ‘Free Conscience’ campaign, launched this week with the backing of many Christian groups, supports […]
Ideology or evidence? The battle over abortion pills
The debate about the use of abortion pills at home is one of a number of controversial issues where I believe that we are increasingly seeing the triumph of ideology over evidence. I’ve explained elsewhere what the current practice is but, briefly, medical abortions (as opposed to surgical) are most commonly used up to nine […]
Conway assisted suicide case – autonomy is not absolute and this appeal should be dismissed
Watch my previous Sky News interview on the Conway case here. A 67-year-old Shropshire man with motor neurone disease (MND) who wants help from doctors to kill himself has been granted permission to appeal an earlier decision rejecting his case. The judgement was handed down today (18 January 2018) following an oral hearing at the Royal […]