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The government’s new ‘prevent duty guidance’ – imposing political correctness on university groups
The Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, currently being considered by the House of…

Freedom of conscience in the new Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct
A new year seems a good time to launch a new set of guidelines, and the NMC have chosen this January…

Disaster response: Malawi faces floods
Many people here daily live life on the edge, so it doesn’t take much to push it over into…

Why abortion is not the best solution for pregnancy following rape or incest
This incredibly difficult and sensitive issue has come into public discussion again as the Northern…

Why have we become so scared of disability?
When I went to see the midwife at 36 weeks of pregnancy, I did not expect to find myself leaving in…

Buffer zones – a form of subverting freedom of speech and real choice
It would appear that once again, liberties are under threat of being curtailed by the proponents of…

Ebola: Christmas is cancelled
As many of us stop work and get ready to enjoy Christmas, let’s spare a thought for the people of…

Conscientious Objection and the worrying implications of the Glasgow midwives case
The right for health professionals to exercise their conscientious objection to participating…

Ebola: dispatches from the frontline
CMF member Sam Dunnet is working as Staff Health Manager for Save the Children in Sierra Leone. Here…

Court rules that unborn babies are ‘organisms’: a look behind the headlines
Seven years ago, a baby girl (who cannot be named for legal reasons) was born to a 19 year old mother…

Censuring debate and free speech at Oxford University
Not for the first time, a college at a top UK university has completely shut down an attempt to organise…
Breastfeeding – a life-saving intervention
It’s World Breastfeeding Week, and guest blogger Adele Cowper shares why this is so important. In 2011, 6.9 million children aged under five died – nearly 800 an hour. The WHO estimates that over 70% of these deaths were preventable or treatable. The greatest burden of disease and death falls on under-ones, who are most […]
Courageous MP thrown out of government for refusing to back legal abortion
Ireland’s Europe minister quit last Thursday over plans to legalise abortion as Prime Minister Enda Kenny pressed ahead with legislation that has polarised the country. Kenny has provoked a strong backlash by pushing for access to abortion when a woman threatens suicide, a move that opponents say could easily open the floodgates to abortion on […]
New Berlin memorial revives memories of doctors’ role in Nazi holocaust
Officials gathered in Berlin this week to lay the foundations for a monument to the people killed as part of the Nazi ‘euthanasia’ programs. The symbolic site at Tiergartenstrasse 4 (pictured) was chosen as it was the headquarters of the original project. The planned exhibit will be dedicated to the victims of the ‘euthanasia’ program, […]
Why the RCGP should stand firm on opposing a change in the law to allow assisted suicide
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is conducting a consultation about the College’s collective position on ‘assisted dying’. The College’s current position on the issue is that, with good palliative care, a change in legislation is not required. However, last year the RCGP Council Chair Clare Gerada (pictured) made it known that she personally favoured a move […]
Infertility treatments: new research and new warnings
A new study has found that a common form of infertility treatment increases the risk of children developing autism and mental disabilities in later life. Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) involves injecting one sperm directly through the shell of an egg and depositing it inside. It is used when sperm quantity or quality is not sufficient […]
Leading parliamentary think tank says Lord Falconer’s ‘Assisted Dying’ Bill fails public safety test
Living and Dying Well (LDW) is a public policy research organisation established in 2010 to promote clear thinking on the end-of-life debate and to explore the complexities surrounding ‘assisted dying’ and other end-of-life issues. It has just published a comprehensive report on Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill which was introduced into the House of Lords […]
Leading parliamentary think tank says Lord Falconer’s ‘Assisted Dying’ Bill fails public safety test
Living and Dying Well (LDW) is a public policy research organisation established in 2010 to promote clear thinking on the end-of-life debate and to explore the complexities surrounding ‘assisted dying’ and other end-of-life issues. It has just published a comprehensive report on Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill which was introduced into the House of Lords […]
The moral status of the human embryo – when is a person?
The moral status of the embryo is one of the key pressure-points in ethical debates about post-coital contraception, therapeutic cloning, pre-implantation diagnosis, artificial reproduction, embryo research and cloning. The issue, which has profound implications for medical practice as doctors, has divided people for centuries and remains controversial. It is a fundamental principle both of Christian […]
Three parent embryos for mitochondrial disease – unsafe, unethical and unnecessary
Britain is planning to become the first country in the world to offer controversial ‘three-parent’ fertility treatments to families who want to avoid passing on mitochondrial diseases to their children The BBC reports this morning on the new techniques which it is claimed will children born through ‘three-person IVF’ who would carry genetic material from each of […]
Ethicists back sex selection for social reasons
Today sees the publication of another deliberately controversial and radical proposal, designed to provoke debate but also to soften public opinion towards removing yet another barrier to reproduction without limits or interference. ‘Leading’ medical ethicists, we are told, are proposing that all legal barriers to sex selection of children should be removed. Sex selection for […]
‘Presumed consent’ for organ donation is both unnecessary and unethical
‘Presumed consent’ for organ donation is both unnecessary and unethical. Wales could become the only UK country with an opt-out organ donation system if politicians vote to change the law today. Currently an ‘opt-in’ consent system operates across the UK. Individuals can authorise organ removal from their bodies after death by joining the Organ Donor […]
Patients, families and organ donation – who should decide? (RE-POST)
(NB: This post was originally posted in September 2012) If you live in Wales, or plan to live – or study – there for longer than six months, by 2015 you are likely to find yourself automatically registered as an organ donor, whether you are fully aware of it or not. You will have to […]