
blogs


New Study of Medical Students Reveals a Strong Support for Freedom of Conscience
A study in the Journal of Medical Ethics published yesterday showed that nearly 50% of medical students…

General Medical Council and Medical Defence Union endorse ‘tactful’ offers of prayer by GPs
The GP magazine Pulse reports in an exclusive this week on new guidance from the Medical Defence Union…

A life precious to God – how to cope when you find your unborn baby has special needs
There is a deeply heart-warming story in the Daily Mail today (July 18 2011) titled, ‘Doctors told…

Greater than Google – final reflections on the Developing Health Course
I'm back in the office after the Developing Health Course, analysing feedback forms, tying up loose ends…

Martin Pistorius: a story about faith, hope and love through ‘locked in syndrome’
The Sunday Times today tells the story of Martin Pistorius, a South African man who ended up paralysed…

Britain promotes media advertising for abortion whilst Russia attempts to curb it
The Daily Telegraph carried the story earlier this month that private clinics which carry out abortions…

Italy joins Bulgaria and France in blocking euthanasia legislation
Earlier this year I reported that France, Australia, Scotland, Israel and Canada had recently blocked…

Abortion and mental health: is there a link?
This is a question that has been the subject of many a debate in academia, in politics, in the public…

Is Treatment Becoming the New Prevention Fad for HIV & AIDS?
Two new studies (one in Kenya and Uganda, the other in Botswana) were published this week suggesting…

Emmerdale injects some reality into its depiction of the sequelae of assisted suicide
I am not an Emmerdale fan but I was interested to see the way the Soap is developing the story following…

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is too high a price for a perfect baby
Last week the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) held its annual meeting…
Clegg calls for increase in use of surrogacy in the UK
Speaking to the PinkNews website recently, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said surrogacy could, and should, be a great help for same-sex couples wanting to start a family: ‘Families come in all different shapes and sizes and there will almost certainly be more and more gay couples considering adoption or surrogacy in the future…It’s great […]
Nepal earthquake – a helping hand in a shaken land
Utter devastation. At least 5,500 dead, thousands more injured and 70,000 homes destroyed. This is the scale of last Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal. The world reacted immediately – as it now can and does in these types of disasters, thanks to news outlets and social media. Our CMF International Facebook Group has been an excellent […]
Deeply flawed assisted suicide bill must be rejected by Scottish Parliament at the earliest opportunity
A report by MSPs criticising the proposed assisted suicide Bill before Holyrood has been welcomed by campaigners opposing the legislation. The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill, introduced by Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie, is due to have its first stage debate in the Scottish Parliament by the end of May. On a raft of crucial matters […]
New DNA editing technique for mitochondrial disease may render three parent embryos redundant
A new technique for removing harmful genes from strands of DNA could potentially obviate the need for three parent embryos for preventing mitochondrial disease. Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, have reported success for the first time in using gene-editing technology to prevent mitochondrial diseases being passed from female […]
DPP faces new legal challenge for ‘clarifying’ guidelines on prosecutions for assisted suicide
Perhaps surprisingly, the Sunday Times has been the only broadsheet newspaper to cover a landmark case which challenges the powers of the crown prosecution service. The CPS head Alison Saunders (pictured), Director of public prosecutions (DPP), is already in considerable hot water over her failure to prosecute Lord Janner for alleged sex abuse, an action […]
Overwhelming majority ignored in sham NI abortion consultation
Proposed changes to Northern Ireland’s abortion laws have been utterly & overwhelmingly rejected by a massive majority according to newly published consultation figures. Justice Minister Ford’s consultation was launched in October 2014 and closed in January 2015. It asked whether the current laws on abortion in NI should be changed to allow for abortion in […]
Assisted Suicide – In the face of two major threats the price of freedom is eternal vigilance
Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill sought to legalise assisted suicide (but not euthanasia) for mentally competent adults (aged over 18) with less than six months to live, subject to ‘safeguards’ under a two doctors’ signature model similar to the Abortion Act 1967. The Bill had an unopposed second reading in the House of Lords on […]
Bruce Forsyth’s recent pronouncements on assisted suicide are seriously misguided
Celebrity entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth (pictured) has called for the legalisation of assisted suicide after watching his ex-wife succumb to dementia. His first wife, Penny Calvert spent her last years in a care home, dying last year. Bruce was married to Penny from 1953 to 1973 and they had three daughters. He later remarried twice. […]
New study confirms that making morning-after pill free without prescription increases sexually transmitted infections and fails to reduce pregnancy rates
Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. One might therefore assume that making the morning-after pill (MAP) more widely accessible would cut the unplanned pregnancy rate. Not so. A new recent US study is the first to estimate the impact of making the morning-after pill available over the counter without prescription on abortions and […]
Why do Government and fertility organisations show no interest in the health of egg donors?
The pressure to harvest women’s eggs is not only increasing, it is also taking different directions. No longer just for reproductive purposes, women’s eggs are urgently needed for research and for treatment, most recently for germline therapies (to create three parent babies). However it is not easy to obtain large numbers of eggs. The […]
In ‘Modern Families’ mother and father are no longer necessary
‘Modern Families: Parents and Children in New Family Forms’, a new book by Professor Susan Golombok from Cambridge University, has recently received a great deal of media publicity. It brings together 35 years of research on parenting and child development in ‘new family forms’ including lesbian mother families, gay father families, families headed by single […]
Changes to NHS charges for missionaries
British doctors working overseas with mission agencies, humanitarian organisations and development charities may soon be required to pay 150% of the normal cost of any secondary health care they receive from the NHS. The new NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 will come into force on 6 April 2015, as part of an […]