
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…
New genetic tests and difficult questions facing expectant parents
A front page article in the Daily Telegraph today describes how researchers have been able to map in great detail the genetic code of an unborn baby at 18 weeks gestation. Taking a blood sample from the mother and a swab of saliva from the father the researchers were able to scan the fetus’ genome […]
Abortion and euthanasia dominate ethics agenda at BMA annual meeting
Abortion and euthanasia are to be debated at a major BMA meeting later this month. The British Medical Association (BMA) holds its annual representative meeting, where it sets policy for the next year, in Bournemouth in the last week of June. An almost unprecedented number of motions on abortion and euthanasia are listed on the […]
‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’ – guide to responding to the GMC consultation
The General Medical Council (GMC) is currently consulting on a range of new guidance to doctors. Overall there are no less than nine separate documents up for discussion. The most contentious and controversial of these is ‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’ (PBMP), which deals with both faith-related discussions within a medical consultation and also conscientious […]
Pro-euthanasia activists gear up for fresh assault on Parliament
The next six weeks are shaping up to be very busy on the euthanasia front as pro-euthanasia activists gear up for a new assault on the media, the courts, the medical profession and parliament. On 19-22 June three Judges in the High Court will hear the joined cases of two men with conditions resembling locked-in […]
Are our genes us?
‘My father’s genetic influence has always been very much a part of who I am. It has shaped the physical way I look; influenced the way I view the world; affected the way I address problem-solving and coloured the way I assess what is important to me. In short it has defined what is essentially, […]
Miracles in Madagascar
CMF member Dr Victoria Parsonson spent two weeks last Summer at the Developing Health Course – run by CMF’s International Ministries department. A few thousand miles away and one year later, the skills she picked up have proven to be more than valuable. Victoria has been sending us short updates over the last few months […]
There are few things more horrifying than the slaughter of innocent children
BBC Radio Four led on the Syrian massacre this morning describing it in graphic terms as the ‘deliberate mass killing of children’ who ’were murdered one by one’. The story was also one of the top three on the BBC website earlier today along with the account of six children dying in a house fire […]
What’s wrong with the General Medical Council’s draft guidance on ‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’?
The General Medical Council (GMC) is currently consulting on a range of new guidance to doctors. Overall there are no less than nine separate documents up for discussion. The most contentious and controversial of these is ‘Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice’ (PBMP), which deals with issues around faith discussions within a medical consultation and conscientious objection. […]
Faith, health & the World Health Organisation
The World Health Assembly in Geneva comes to an end today, after a relatively uneventful few days. The WHA is the strategy setting body for the World Health Organisation, and so its decisions affect the global health priorities of the world for the coming years. At this year’s Assembly there was a major new push […]
Abortion: ‘A caring service’
A BBC 5 radio programme has broadcast live from an abortion clinic, describing what happens to women when they go to a clinic and interviewing two women who have recently had an abortion, as well as the staff there. The whole abortion procedure is dressed up with a pleasant cloak of respectability. The ‘treatment room’ […]
Of course, nursing needs ‘compassion’
New nurses should be judged on their compassion not just their skills, according to Sir Keith Pearson, chairman of the NHS Confederation. He’s been addressing the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) annual conference in Harrogate, and is one of the authors of a critical report into standards of care for older people and is expected to call for big […]
Assisted suicide deaths increase by 40% in one year in Washington State
The number of Washington state residents who died of physician-assisted suicide rose to 70 in 2011, up from 51 in 2010 and 36 in 2009, when the state’s Death With Dignity Act took effect. The Washington State Dept. of Health reported in May that 103 patients requested and received lethal doses of medications from 80 […]