
blogs


Increasing survival of extremely premature babies again raises questions about upper abortion limits
The increasing survival of extremely premature babies is again raising serious questions about the 24…

Activists’ attempt to legalise abortion on demand up until birth is both unnecessary and unwanted
A campaign by activists to legalise abortion on demand up until birth hots up again this month, with…

End of Life Issues. What can we expect in 2017?
Things have been quieter than usual on the end of life front in the UK since the overwhelming defeat…

Sex and Relationship Education: should it be compulsory in schools or not?
The Government has just announced major changes to Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in all schools,…

Regulator’s proposal to remove pharmacists’ conscience rights is unethical, unnecessary and quite possibly illegal
Should pharmacists be forced to dispense drugs for what they consider to be unethical practices – like…

Surrogacy – good rulings from Europe put the UK out on a limb
The disentangling of the UK from the European Union will inevitably, over time, put us more and more…

The age-old question: Science and political interests in the debate over abortion
Political agendas hiding behind science are nothing new. A particularly famous episode occurred in the…

Global Health – challenges for the coming year
2016 may have got a bad press in some parts of the media, but step back from the Anglophone world and…

Beginning of Life issues in 2017: what will we be talking about this year?
2017 will be another busy and challenging year on beginning of life issues
Abortion
October 2017 marks…

Bullying and NHS Culture
It seems hard to credit that an organisation whose primary focus is the care of the sick, disabled and…

Despite the marketing, egg freezing is not all it’s cracked up to be
IVF has become an almost routine procedure since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978. So much so that women…
Individuals and Organisations who refused to give evidence to Falconer Commission
The Falconer Commission on ‘Assisted Dying’, which publishes its report today, has been accused (quite rightly) of being unnecessary, biased and lacking transparency. It was sponsored by Dignity in Dying, formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, and financed by Terry Pratchett one of their patrons, with panel members being handpicked by Lord Falconer (pictured), a leading […]
What Falconer does not say about assisted suicide is even more worrying than what he does say
On New Year’s day, Lord Falconer (pictured) wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Telegraph with the specious title ‘A duty of care to our last days on Earth’. It was subtitled ‘Do Britain’s laws on assisted dying work, and if not, what should replace them?’ The piece was an advertorial for the much trumpeted […]
Calls for action on care need to be heeded
When I wrote last July about how the findings of the Dilnot Commission into the funding of social care for the elderly looked likely to be admired but ignored by Government, I feared that the matter of how we care as a society for our most vulnerable members was once again being kicked into the […]
Charles Falconer’s bent jury
Charles Falconer’s ‘Commission on Assisted Dying’ is due to report on Thursday 5 January 2012, over a year after it first launched in November 2010, but its recommendations have already being leaked (ie. pre-announced) this week and we can expect more drip-drip as the week goes on. The commission was originally ‘suggested’ by the pressure […]
Ireland’s Gain, England’s Loss
A fascinating new comparative analysis of the effects of abortion on a whole country’s population and health has been published this week. Ireland and Northern Ireland both have far more restrictive laws on abortion than England, Wales and Scotland and thus provide a neat comparison of statistical data between the different countries. A new report […]
‘Alcohol is blighting our communities’ says church poll
A YouGov poll published today on behalf of three major British Christian denominations has revealed that 61% of British adults believe that excessive drinking is a problem in their local area. The Baptists, Methodists and United Reformed Churches have expressed concerns about the increasing availability of cheap alcohol and the effects this might be having […]
Sham euthanasia report from Canada should make us more wary
Charlie Falconer’s sham ‘Commission on Assisted Dying’ is due to report on 5 January 2012, over a year after it first launched in November 2009. The private commission was set up by Falconer because Dignity in Dying (previously the Voluntary Euthanasia Society) had failed three times since 2006 in legalizing assisted suicide in Britain and […]
98% of abortions in Britain are technically illegal, and many will lead to mental health problems for women
One of the most comprehensive and systematic reviews to date into the link between abortion and mental health problems has confirmed that women who have an unplanned pregnancy are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems after an abortion. The Review also highlights which women are most at risk of mental health problems […]
A new milestone in irresponsible media reporting of suicide
I was phoned last Monday by Sky News to be told that they were planning to give an international media platform to a new case of assisted suicide involving a media personality who was dying of cancer. The story has broken today. This carefully orchestrated move by a former BBC producer, in collaboration with the […]
Is restrictive abortion legislation ineffectual, as new research claims?
According to a number of newspaper articles last week, abortion rates are unaffected by legislation. In other words, countries with more restrictive abortion laws have pretty much the same rates as those with very few restrictions. The news headlines read: ‘Countries with restricted access to abortion, including the UK, do not have lower termination rates […]
Please support the current definition of marriage in Scotland
The Scottish Government Same-Sex Marriage Consultation closes on Friday 9 December. CMF is backing Scotland for Marriage in its campaign to retain the current legal definition of marriage which has served Scotland well for centuries. Scotland for Marriage is opposed to redefining marriage in Scotland and is calling for a referendum on this issue. Respondents […]
‘Life’ sentences for murder are necessary to deter would-be mercy killers
A group of legal ‘experts’ has claimed today that mandatory life sentences for murder in England and Wales and the system for setting minimum terms are unjust and outdated. The Homicide Review Advisory Group, made up of judges, academics and former QCs, says the system does not allow for sentences to match individual crimes.The mandatory life […]