
blogs


Cloning Neanderthal babies: what we really need to be concerned about
Could it really be possible to create a cloned Neanderthal baby? A Harvard Professor of Genetics, who…

Self-help books for depression – brilliant new tools for doctors, pastors and patients
A top health story on the BBC this last week has highlighted a new study showing that prescribing self-help…

Catholic midwives appeal court ruling forcing them to supervise abortions
Two Roman Catholic midwives who lost a legal battle to avoid taking part in abortion procedures have…

HPV vaccine – mothers influence daughters choices but deep questions remain
A mother's attitude towards cervical cancer screening influences decisions to vaccinate daughters against…

Faith matters post-2015
With 2015 looming ever closer, the process to find a set of mutually agreed global goals for development is…

The Department of Health is grossly under-reporting the true number of abortions for Down’s syndrome
Some of the most common congenital abnormalities accounting for abortions in England and Wales are ‘trisomies’,…

Liverpool Care Pathway – nine points for the government to consider in its review
Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, yesterday hailed the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway…

Health professionals and organisations misusing LCP should be reported to regulators, says CQC
The Liverpool Care Pathway was developed at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the city's…

Amour – an award winning film with a sting in the tail
Amour (literally, ‘Love’) is a 2012 French-language film written and directed by Michael Haneke…

The global burden of disease – let’s not forget the spiritual dimension
Yesterday saw the publication of a landmark, multicentre collaborative study on the global burden of…

Ireland and abortion – an update on recent events and the current legislative predicament
The international spotlight is now on Ireland in the wake of the case of Savita Halappanavar who, it…
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 […]