
blogs


Always Covid and never Christmas?
What kind of Christmas are you looking forward to? This is the second one impacted by Covid and its restrictions,…

Assisted dying – far better help is available than most realise
Far better help is available for patients in great suffering and distress than many people realise.…

Love in the time of Covid – gospel unity on an astonishingly divisive issue of our time
Are you aware that there is a silent spiritual battle going on within our church families?
I have come…

U.S. surgeons successfully test pig kidney transplant in human patient
So ran the headline of an article in Reuters’ ‘Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals’ category late last…

Who’s the boss? Vaccinating our children
‘You do it all then – you’re the boss’, said the dad to his ten-year-old daughter, as they…

Vaccine passports – a 21st-century ‘apartheid’?
Vaccine passports are proof of COVID-19 vaccination status as a condition of participation in certain…

Has the RCP’s reluctance to issue guidance on fMRI scans for coma patients become indefensible?
In March 2020, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in the UK published national guidelines on the management…

‘I’m Going to Convert You’
Conversion Therapy Ban
'I’m going to convert you.' It has a paternalistic – perhaps even narcissistic…

Downright Discrimination – the issues in the Heidi Crowter case
On July 6th and 7th 2021, Heidi Crowter made history. She is the first woman with Down syndrome to take…

Capturing the language of (assisted) death
Those promoting the agenda that, in plain speaking, wants the UK to legalise doctors to be able to provide…

‘Dying with Dignity’ Bill defeated in Ireland
The Joint Committee on Justice in Ireland has put a halt to the Dying with Dignity Bill proposed by…
‘Life is but a breath’ – medical mission in Ecuador
As physicians in the UK we see tragedies and heartbreak; the stillborn baby, the young father who dies of cancer, a child who is run over. Working as a physician in Ecuador I have witnessed many, many more tragedies; young mothers with terrible, neglected, fungating breast tumours, whole families travelling on a motorbike together who […]
Speaking out for truth and justice – a Christian responsibility
Speaking out for truth and justice is just one of many responsibilities we have as Christians. But I suspect it is the one that we most willingly shirk, simply because it can be so costly. Being a Christian is costly in many ways. It is costly to live a life of obedience and service, costly […]
Woman refuses $10,000 to abort surrogate baby with special needs
This is a bizarre story from the US state of Connecticut which appeared on CNN today but deserves far wider distribution. The original account titled ‘Surrogate offered $10,000 to abort baby’ runs to 3,500 words so I have cut it to 1,400 (see here). The story has now gone viral (see here). I run the […]
Fresh warning sounded to UK as euthanasia deaths increase by 25% in Belgium in just one year
Things are moving at a frightening pace in Belgium. Further to my recent ten year review in December and report on the twins’ euthanasia case that made international headlines in January Alex Schadenberg has just published the following review on Belgium’s 2012 figures just out. I’ve reproduced it here from his blog. Recent studies concerning the Belgian euthanasia law found that: 32% […]
The duties of a physician – a Puritan’s prescription
Richard Baxter (1615-1691), author of The Saint’s Everlasting Rest and The Reformed Pastor, was known as ‘an eminent curer of souls’. This advice for Christian Physicians (taken from his 1673 Christian Directory) gives interesting insights into the doctor-patient relationship in the 17th century and good guidance for us today. Baxter did not want to ‘intermeddle […]
‘Amour’ is a dangerously seductive piece of pro-euthanasia propaganda
Margaret Morganroth Gullette is Resident Scholar of the Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University and author of ‘Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America’. She has just written a brilliant review of the award winning film ‘Amour’ for the Guardian Film blog which is well worth reading. Amour (literally, ‘Love’) is a 2012 French-language film written and directed by Michael […]
Landmark Irish ‘right to die’ case is based on flawed assumption
Marie Fleming (pictured) is a 59 year old former Irish lecturer who has multiple sclerosis and wants her partner to be able to help kill herself without risk of prosecution (See Irish Times and BBC Europe reports). Her landmark case in Ireland is very similar to that of Debbie Purdy in Britain, who won a […]
Another unworkable proposal from NHS ‘experts’ on morning-after pill
An influential group of NHS experts is urging the Scottish Government to allow the morning-after pill to be handed out in schools (See reports by BBC, Scotsman and Scottish Herald) But the push has faced criticism from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland for being irresponsible. The parliamentary officer John Dieghan said it ‘pours more […]
Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability – please contribute!
A new Parliamentary group[1] has been set up to review the law on abortion for disability, with a particular focus on whether it is discriminatory or not. We encourage members to contribute to this Inquiry as the experience and expertise of health professionals will be particularly valuable. This short briefing is based on a longer […]
Women who keep their disabled babies face coercion, discrimination and disdain
I recently attended the second oral evidence session of the Parliamentary ‘Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability’ (more background here) The current law permits an abortion to take place up to birth (40 weeks) if prenatal tests indicate that the child may be disabled when born. There is a legal limit of 24 […]
The RCGP Council should reject Clare Gerada’s attempt to push it neutral on assisted suicide and euthanasia
Next Friday, 22 February, the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) willconsider its Chairman’s suggestionto go neutral on assisted suicide and euthanasia. The RCGP is the largest membership organisation in the UK solely for GPs and currently has over 42,000 members. The papers for the meeting have not been made public but […]
Panorama highlights liberal interpretation of abortion law by British doctors
Last Monday I took part in the BBC Panorama programme ‘The Great Abortion Divide’ (watch it on I-Player). It was presented by Victoria Derbyshire (pictured) and produced by Elizabeth Byrne. Although extremely controversial it has had very little coverage in the media with only the BBC, Guardian and Times (£) so far reporting on it. The programme was billed as follows: ‘Abortion is more […]