
blogs


British Medical Journal publishes my reply to its article on CMF and faith discussions with patients
A couple of weeks ago the British Medical Journal published an article in its Lobby Watch column about…

New pre-natal screening test makes eliminating all people with genetic disease an achievable reality
‘Fetal DNA tests: Are we finally entering an era of eugenics?’ This was the question raised by Nancy…

Christian pharmacists under threat from new guidelines on morning-after pill provision
Christian pharmacists who object to dispensing the morning-after pill are facing pressure from their…

London hospital backs down from forcing Christian nurses to participate in abortion after receiving lawyer’s letter
A London hospital which tried to force two Christian nurses to participate in abortion has backed down…

Commercials of convenience – plans to advertise abortion on TV and radio contested
HG Wells once said that 'advertising is legalised lying'. He would not have been thinking of TV adverts…

China vows crackdown on sex-selective abortion to close gender gap
You are unlikely to read this from any British media outlet in the midst of the London riots and falling…

Thriving 5-year old born at 23 weeks fuels calls for lowering of upper abortion limit
The mother of a boy, now five years old, who was born prematurely at 23 weeks gestation, has again ignited…

Dignity in Dying blog opts for assisted death after suffering unbearably
The Dignity in Dying blog has opted for assisted suicide after apparently suffering unbearably from a…

Matt Hampson – awe-inspiring article in Sunday Times on coping with tetraplegia
'Engage!' was the last word Matt Hampson heard before dislocating his neck while in rugby training with…

A politically incorrect final solution for Britain’s growing elderly population
The BBC has reminded us this week that today's 20-year-olds are three times more likely to live to…

Marketing tactics used by BPAS and MSI to increase abortion pressure
My attention has just been drawn to a new report by Right to Know (RTK) which reveals the pressure that…
The Big IF – Lobbying world leaders is right but charity begins with changed hearts
45,000 people gathered in Hyde Park today to urge G8 leaders to act on world hunger (see also reports from BBC and Ekklesia). A colourful installation of thousands of plastic flowers (picture), the petals of which represented the millions of children who die each year as a result of malnutrition, was the focal point of […]
Screening for Down’s syndrome – the real costs
In 1992 it was predicted that no more than 60% of all women would take up antenatal screening for Down’s syndrome and, with more older mothers giving birth, an increase in the number of affected births was predicted. How wrong this prediction was. It underestimated the future power and effectiveness of new screening techniques. The […]
Ile płacimy za aborcje dzieci z downem (Screening for Down’s syndrome – the real costs. Polish language version)
Prognozy sprzed lat nie uwzględniły skut- ków coraz większej miarodajności badań przesiewowych. O ile słusznie przewidzia- no wzrost liczby matek w średnim wieku, o tyle już założenie, iż liczba dzieci narodzonych z zespołem Downa wzrośnie, okazało się błędne. Wysoko zaawansowana diagnostyka umożliwiają- ca już na bardzo wczesnym etapie rozpoznanie symptomów charakterystycznych dla zespołu Do- wna […]
The police and GMC should be investigating the London psychiatrist that Michael Irwin is protecting
The papers are full today of a report (initially carried by the Daily Mirror) about the first British man with dementia to have an assisted suicide at the Dignitas facility in Zurich, Switzerland. The BBC is now running the story which will give it even wider coverage but it has also been reported by the […]
Christians should prepare for further job discrimination following today’s European Court ruling
Two British Christians who refused to act contrary to conscience have lost their legal battle at the European court of human rights in a move that demonstrates that ‘gay rights’ trump ‘conscience rights’ when the two conflict. Gary McFarlane and Lillian Ladele (pictured) had their appeals to the Strasbourg court rejected in January and had sought to resolve the […]
Abortion law in Ireland under serious threat from new legislation
Ireland is one of the few developed countries in the world where abortion remains illegal under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. However this could change if proposed new legislation is passed through the Irish Parliament Despite the significance, and potential effect, of the proposed legislative changes under the Irish ‘Heads of […]
Dilemmas, difficulties and hope – reproductive health in developing countries
Despite my determination a few years ago not to be a GP with a Women’s Health interest that’s exactly what I’ve found that I love! Having exhausted the UK Diplomas and Letters of Competence and with a long-standing interest in working in developing nations, I wondered just how much difference a GP can make in […]
Lord Falconer is seeking to overturn the Hippocratic Oath and change 2,400 years of history
‘I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.’ So reads the Hippocratic Oath, which until recently used to be taken by all graduating doctors. Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles (Classical Greece), and is considered […]
Time lapse imaging of embryos – exciting breakthrough or just eugenics by another name?
Various media outlets (including The Times (£), The Telegraph, BBC, The Independent and The Guardian) have published articles reporting on how fertility specialists from Nottingham have developed a radical technique that will ‘dramatically improve’ the chances of IVF couples having a baby. The original research appears in Reproductive BioMedicine Online. About one in eight couples have trouble having children through natural conception and […]
Embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos – six reasons for caution
The newspapers are full today of the news that scientists in the US state of Oregon have produced embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using the same cloning technology (somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)) that created Dolly the sheep. The original paper was published in the scientific journal Cell (Reuters and Nature give helpful reviews). Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his colleagues took skin […]
Joy, sorrow and satisfaction – medical mission in Ecuador
My own personal journey to becoming a medical missionary began when I finished secondary school and went on a short-term mission team to Ecuador. While we ran a Bible club for slum children a five-year-old boy, Juan, came to our attention. He had a gangrenous finger due to a neglected wound and it had to […]
It’s exam time! Can smart drugs make you smarter at this testing time?
While a cup of strong coffee is probably the choice of drink for most people studying for exams, perhaps coupled with a healthy diet, some exercise and sleep, many students will be taking something stronger and, it’s claimed, more effective. So-called ‘brain steroids’ or ‘smart drugs’ can be purchased on campuses, or off the internet, for a few pounds. By improving concentration, […]