
blogs


New ‘withdrawal of treatment’ case poses major threat to disabled people
BBC Radio 4’s File on Four programme earlier this week, ‘A Living Death’, featured four case…

Reclaiming dignity in dying
BBC scriptwriters, viewers and listeners fought back over the weekend to recapture the word ‘dignity’…

Human rights of the elderly once again being neglected
Today saw the publication of yet another in a series of damning reports on the failures of our care system.
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General Medical Council confirms the appropriateness of sensitive faith discussions with patients
Last Thursday I took part in a discussion on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme about whether or not faith…

At a Given Moment – recognising worldview as part of a healthy diagnosis
CMF member Dr Graham McAll has worked as a general surgeon and inner city GP. In a timely new book,…

A surprisingly upbeat end to the UN high level meeting on AIDS promises renewed global action
UN meetings and political declarations are often perceived as wordy and irrelevant. But every now and…

Twenty facts we did not learn from Terry Pratchett’s BBC ‘documentary’ on assisted suicide in Europe
The Sunday Times, in line with its new editorial policy, ran a typically effusive article last weekend…

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (15 June) – A reminder to treasure, honour and protect the older members of our community
You are unlikely to read about it in the British press, but today, 15 June, is World Elder Abuse Awareness…

NHS reforms expose the British idolatry of our healthcare system
Nigel Lawson once famously said that the NHS is the nearest thing that the British have to a national…

New BBC Radio Four programme – Are we in for more bludgeoning of disabled people?
I've just been alerted to the fact that BBC Radio 4 is running another forty-minute 'documentary' on…

The collapse of Southern Cross – is capitalism crushing care and compassion?
As the country’s biggest independent provider of care homes for the elderly sinks deeper into a financial…
Conscientious objection ‘may become indefensible’ according to new WHO guidance
The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its Abortion Care Guidance recently, ostensibly ‘in a bid to protect the health of women and girls and help prevent over 25 million unsafe abortions that currently occur each year’. The implication throughout the guidance is that unsafe abortions are universally illegal ones, whilst legal abortions are universally […]
Mitochondrial Donation Down Under
‘Maeve’s Law has just passed the Senate 37-17 and will now become law. It is globally leading mitochondrial legislation to give hope to families across Australia’ tweeted Greg Hunt, an Australian MP on March 30th 2022. He was one of the prime movers behind the Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve’s Law) Bill 2021, named after […]
Watch & pray for Russia and Ukraine
[This blog was written twelve days before Russia invaded Ukraine – at this moment the war is escalating and the invasion is already taking lives. If you would like to pray about this situation, the 24-7 Prayer Network have provided a resource, and the International Christian Medical & Dental Association will be holding an online prayer meeting on […]
I was a foreigner, and you did not welcome me in: the challenge of the Nationality and Borders Bill
Parinaz is a journalist from Iran who came to the UK seeking asylum over eight years ago. Despite the services of a caring solicitor, her claim has been refused many times. To add to her despair, she discovered a breast lump earlier this year. Imagine the additional worry you would have receiving an NHS invoice […]
We take delight in honouring each other: A response to the vaccine mandate
Yesterday we learned that the Secretary of State for Health has agreed to reverse the UK government’s policy on Covid vaccine mandates after a brief consultation on the issue. At the time of writing, by 1 April 2022, all NHS staff in England would have had to have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep […]
Who are we protecting? Anti-Covid measures and their impact on children.
Children are a precious gift from God; they are vulnerable and need to be cared for. Jesus prioritised children in a society where they were not generally valued. Over history, Christians have campaigned for the welfare and rights of children (especially the most vulnerable), founding orphanages and schools and being instrumental in the ending of […]
Vaccinating our kids against Covid
COVID-19 has affected us all in different ways over the past two years. For most of us, our lives have looked completely different to how they were before 2020 and how we expected them to be. In the spring of 2020, when deaths from or with Covid were high and we were only beginning to […]
Vaccine Mandates: A defining justice issue for our professions?
“I’ve worked for two years throughout this pandemic…with inadequate PPE…overtime…seeing many die in front of me. And now I’m going to lose my job”. This is just one story of many I have heard from colleagues who stand to lose their jobs when the government’s vaccination mandate for healthcare workers in England comes into force […]
Wrongful conception – the latest weapon in culling disability?
At the end of November, in the High Court, the case of Toombes v Dr Philip Mitchell was heard before Rosalind Coe QC, acting judge. The claimant, 20-year-old Evie Toombes, sued her mother’s GP, Dr Mitchell, on the grounds of her own wrongful conception. Had her mother been given the appropriate advice at the time, […]
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, anxieties, and irritations. How many more? Will it always be like this? Always Covid and never Christmas, or at least never Christmas as it used to be? In the CS Lewis book, ‘The Lion, the […]
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. A CMF member shares two stories she has included in her response to the assisted suicide consultation. Liam McArthur MSP is currently holding a consultation on whether to introduce assisted suicide to Scotland. Last week we contacted our nurse […]
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 across many Christian brothers and sisters who are very distressed and yet feeling very alone and isolated within church families because their conscience before the Lord does not allow them to be vaccinated. This has become […]