blogs

Putting faith in global healthcare
I have long argued on this blog that there needs to be a greater engagement with faith based…

The BMA: A trade union with integrity?
Can the British Medical Association (BMA) be trusted to ‘maintain the honour and interests of the medical…

Abortion and preterm births: what women need to know but are not told
Prematurity - a birth prior to 37 weeks gestational age – has recently been described as: ‘the…

Candour in the NHS: Speaking the truth in love?
We would all want a good degree of honesty from anyone caring for us or treating us for a medical condition. …

Nurses caught up in immigration battle
The annual congress of the Royal College of Nursing opened on Sunday, and it began with a warning. …

Morning-after pill is now available to all girls UNDER the age of consent
News that the morning-after pill, ellaOne (which can be effective up to five days after sex), is now…

Elisabeth Elliot enters ‘the gates of splendor’
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” ― Jim…

How safe is the school cancer vaccination for young girls?
New reports (including on the front page of the Independent) are adding to the evolving story…

The new ethical frontier: DIY eugenics
The single most controversial development in biology in 2015 is a relatively cheap, easily manipulated…

Scottish Assisted Suicide Bill gets short shrift from MSPs
Patrick Harvie’s Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill has been defeated today in a free vote by 82 votes…

Thirteen ‘solutions’ to mitochondrial disease assessed
Mitochondrial disorders are passed on through a mother’s mitochondrial DNA. They are progressive…
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 […]