
blogs


Protecting Freedom of Conscience
As Christians we are called to respect the governing authorities as they are instituted by God himself…

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…

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…

A Christian framework for medical ethical decision-making
How should Christians make ethical decisions? Should we use secular decision-making systems that are…

Reshuffling health and social care – finding models that work
Monday’s cabinet reshuffle has opened up some interesting possibilities. With Jeremy Hunt not only…

Supreme Court to rule on whether doctors can remove food and fluids from brain-damaged patients without going to court
Should doctors be able to withdraw food and fluids from severely brain-damaged patients who are not imminently…

Abortion pills: a safer, easier and more convenient option? The evidence says ‘no’
The President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) Professor Lesley Regan,…

An integrated view of mission?
Many of us with a ‘good evangelical’ upbringing firmly believe that to be a Christian at all brings…

The Reformation and Medicine
This is the text of the talk I gave at the Guildhall, Guildford on Wednesday 1 November 2017 as part…

Commemoration or Celebration? 50 years of Abortion in numbers and pictures
The Abortion Act reaches its 50th Anniversary on Friday 27 October 2017. In these last fifty years nearly…

Why should families have a say in organ retrieval?
It may come as a bit of a surprise to some people that even if a member of your immediate family carries…
College climbs down over ban on Christian doctors and nurses training in sexual and reproductive health
Doctors and nurses wishing to practise in sexual and reproductive health have been granted more liberty to exercise freedom of conscience under new guidelines published earlier this year. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), a faculty of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), has relaxed its stance on conscience in new guidelines issued […]
DNA editing – a significant advance but many questions remained unanswered
You can see my Sky News interview on this story here. Scientists have, for the first time shown that it is possible to correct gene mutations in human embryos successfully using a gene editing tool potentially opening the door to treatment for over 10,000 single gene disorders. The US and the South Korean researchers used a new technology […]
Ideology or Evidence (part two)? The battle over abortion statistics
Having blogged about the triumph of ideology over evidence in relation to the campaign in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland for presumed consent to organ donation, I can now report on a campaign where evidence triumphed over ideology. This one is in relation to the reporting and publicity of abortion outcomes. To give some background: […]
Ideology or evidence? The battle over presumed consent to organ donation
The debate about changing the law on organ donation is one of a number of controversial issues where I believe that we are increasingly seeing the triumph of ideology over evidence. A campaign to introduce ‘presumed consent’ to organ donation on death has been gaining momentum for some time and now similar legislation to […]
Charlie Gard: Emotion has trumped trust in today’s society, but parents and professionals can work together
The tragic case of Charlie Gard, and the desperate efforts of his parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard to do everything to give him a chance of life have gripped the national and international media. The case raises profound and troubling questions about the power of medical technology, the duties and responsibilities of doctors […]
Why Boots chemist should not have capitulated to pressure from BPAS over emergency contraception
Over the weekend I waded into the debate on whether Boots should reduce the price of the so-called ‘morning-after pill’ and criticised the high street chemist for ‘capitulating in the face of political pressure’. Let me explain why. Boots had originally defied calls to slash the price of ‘emergency contraception’ – with its chief pharmacist saying it did […]
Family planning – ‘summit of a mess’
Last week’s London Family Planning Summit was, on the surface, a ‘successful’ follow up to the 2012 Family Planning Summit, which aimed to increase access to contraception for 120 million women. US$2.5 billion was pledged by governments and other donors to ‘improve and expand the reach of reproductive health services to women and girls in […]
The Conway Case – a change in the law to allow assisted suicide is dangerous and unnecessary
A 67-year-old Shropshire man with motor neurone disease (MND) is seeking to overturn the law banning assisted suicide. Noel Conway is backed by the former Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now rebranded Dignity in Dying (DID)), whose lawyers will argue that the current blanket ban on assisted suicide under the Suicide Act is incompatible with his rights under […]
Troubled times: Is God giving Britain over?
The rollercoaster journey of the last twelve months has left many UK citizens feeling dislocated and anxious about the future of our country. Political events – Brexit, Trump, a snap general election, a hung parliament, confidence and supply arrangements and the Queen’s speech – have laid bare deep divisions between old and young, right and […]
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 lost a baby at 29 weeks, I know only too well the effect that these laws have on those, who like me, refuse a termination and who lose a child. In the summer of 2015, at 23 weeks […]
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 of abortion. You can listen to the whole debate here and five brilliant two-minute speeches against the motion here. Two previous blog posts give the background in more detail here and here. The opposition speakers spoke with grace, eloquence and […]
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 into two distinct types, male and female. Females have XX chromosomes, female hormones, breasts, ovaries, wombs and vaginas. Males have XY chromosomes, male hormones, testes and penises. Don’t they? But now we’re being told that gender is […]