
blogs


Do Christians divorce at lower or higher rates than others?
It is widely assumed that Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as non-Christians. This ‘fact’…

Trickle of British suicide cases to Dignitas continues as Swiss vote for status quo
Switzerland's parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide this week, rejecting…

Why does God allow suffering?
What causes suffering? Is just fate? Retribution? All in the mind? Random molecules?
These are some…

Patients with dementia and psychiatric illnesses included as Dutch euthanasia cases rise steeply
According to Dutch media reports today, euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2011 increased by 18%…

What do Ludwig van Beethoven, Justin Bieber and Tim Tebow have in common?
A professor in a college ethics class presented his students with a problem. He said, ‘A man has…

Warning to UK – Oregon Health Plan steers patients towards suicide
Members of the pro-euthanasia movement frequently point to the US state of Oregon, which legalised assisted…

BBC article on ‘gay therapies’ is simplistic, misleading and ignores much of the available evidence
Should people with unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction seek professional help? And if so what kind…

Major split in LibCon Coalition over assisted suicide
The Liberal Democrat conference voted yesterday to back the legalisation of ‘medically assisted dying’,…

Liberal Democrats back Dutch style legislation which would lead to 13,000 British euthanasia deaths annually
On Sunday 23 September the Liberal Democrat conference debated and passed a motion on ‘medically assisted…

Abortion after rape – the issues and emotions involved are not as straightforward as most people presume
I was interested to see published this week a statement from the ‘Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant…

Current law supports eugenic abortion for disabled people – our letter in today’s Daily Telegraph
I am one of nine joint signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph today arguing that the success…
Nurses to be trained to give compassionate care
Falling care standards have prompted a rallying call from the new Chief Nursing Officer. In an increasingly heated debate, she’s calling for nursing to recover its core values – particularly care, compassion, courage, commitment and communication. Today Jane Cumming takes things a step further – initiating a new three-year ‘Compassion in Practice’ strategy based on […]
Investigation into the Liverpool Care Pathway – an update
On Monday 26 November, Care Minister Norman Lamb MP (pictured) convened roundtable talks with parliamentarians, doctors and patients’ representatives to discuss the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). During the meeting, which I attended, the Minister announced a far-reaching review to consider the various issues raised, with an independent chair. The review will consider the findings […]
Why opinion polls supporting euthanasia are a waste of space
The Daily Mail is today running a story titled ‘Majority of Brits want assisted suicide legalised as new poll reveals strong support for change in the law across Europe’. The headline is based on the findings of a new survey, carried out on behalf of the Swiss Medical Lawyers Association (SMLA), which apparently found that […]
RCGP Chairman Clare Gerada moves to gag doctors on ‘assisted dying’
I’ve had a flurry of correspondence recently from GPs expressing deep concern at RCGP Council Chair Clare Gerada’s recent move to shift the College to a neutral position on ‘assisted dying’. Dr Gerada’s latest newsletter devotes four paragraphs to the issue which she has placed on the agenda for the February 2013 meeting of the […]
Changing Ireland’s abortion law will not save any mothers and could lead to 11,000 more abortions annually
Savita Halappanavar was an Indian woman who tragically died on 28 October in Galway University Hospital, Ireland from overwhelming infection after allegedly being denied an abortion. Her death, on 28 October, is now the subject of two investigations by Ireland’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and by University Hospital Galway. The death has led to […]
Savita’s death is a tragedy but is not a reason to change Ireland’s law on abortion
Savita Halappanavar (pictured) was an Indian woman who tragically died in Ireland from overwhelming infection after allegedly being denied an abortion. The ‘facts’ (yet to be confirmed) have been reported as follows: ‘On October 21, Savita Halappanavar visited Galway University Hospital, Ireland. The 31-year-old dentist was 17 weeks pregnant and suffering terrible back pain. Savita […]
BBC Panorama findings will heighten calls for review of Tony Bland judgement
Tuesday night’s BBC Panorama told the story of a Canadian man who was believed to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade, being able to tell scientists that he was not in any pain. According to BBC health correspondent Fergus Walsh (pictured), it’s the first time an uncommunicative, severely brain-injured patient […]
Japanese Robots proposed as solution for declining birthrate and workforce and increasing elderly care needs
I have previously highlighted Japan’s huge demographic time bomb and the fact that virtually all Western countries now suffer from this same problem to a greater or lesser degree. In 1950 Japan’s population of elderly citizens (65 years and over) accounted for just 4.9% of the total population. This had risen to 21.5% by 2007 […]
Obama re-elected what will it mean for beginning of life policy?
The man whom pro-life leaders have called ‘the most pro-abortion president in US history’ has been re-elected. Obama snagged the race after taking key swing states, including Virginia, Ohio, and New Hampshire. Obama’s support for liberal abortion has already been well documented (see here, here and full list of all his actions here). But what […]
Same sex parenting vs heterosexual parenting: research revisited
A controversial study on gay parenting published this summer generated such an outcry of protest on its findings and ad hominen attacks on the author, that it led, among other things, to an official investigation into the ethics of the study and possible scientific misconduct (he was cleared). The research, by Prof Regnerus, suggested that […]
Social myths about abortion after rape
The Elliott Institute has just published a powerful article titled ‘My Rape Pregnancy and My Furor Over Social Myths’ by Deana Schroeder, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant By Sexual Assault (WPSA). She recounts the story of being drugged and raped at 17 and then, after becoming pregnant, being persuaded to […]
BMA issues disingenuous statement on pregnancy counselling
Last week there was some media coverage, and plenty of twitter action, on a Parliamentary debate about reducing the upper time limit for legal abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. This resulted in the BMA issuing a disputable press statement ‘clarifying’ its official position on abortion counselling. The association later gave a similar statement […]