
blogs


Overwhelming defeat for Margo Macdonald’s End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill
Tonight, the Scottish Parliament has voted overwhelmingly by 85 to 16 to reject Margo Macdonald's End…

The vast majority of the members of Lord Falconer’s new commission on assisted dying are well-known names in the pro-legalisation lobby
Today I went by invitation to the launch of Lord Falconer’s Commission on ‘Assisted Dying’ at…

Further disclosures about Lord Falconer’s Commission on Assisted Dying raise more questions about transparency and independence
The Commission on 'Assisted Dying', due to be launched on Tuesday 30 November, has attracted some more…

By focusing exclusively on HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, Western governments and NGOs have neglected other easily treatable and curable diseases
Micah Challenge is a global coalition of Christians holding governments to account for their promise…

Serious questions raised about status and independence of new Commission on ‘Assisted Dying’
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) last week ran a story about a new Commission on ‘Assisted Dying’…

17th Century lesson for medical students today
Thomas Sydenham, a man of deep Christian faith who many regard as the father of English medicine, said…

Death of a tea lady – the unforeseen effects of a bad management decision
When I was a general surgical registrar in Auckland, New Zealand the 'management era' was just beginning.…

Scottish GPs add their voices to those calling for final burial of Scottish ‘End of Life Assistance Bill’. Read final committee conclusions here.
A GROUP of 47 GPs have united in opposition to moves at the Scottish Parliament to legalise assisted…

The Committee scrutinizing Margo MacDonald’s Bill have recommended that it be rejected – now it is time for MSPs finally to bury it
I have previously blogged about Margo MacDonald's End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill which seeks…

‘We have a charge from Christ to care for the weakest in society’ – Dr Trevor Stammers speaks on Channel 4 about abortion
Channel Four are showing a series of short films this week about different people’s views on abortion.…

Don’t believe everything you read in the Washington Post – a compendium of the most recent medical evidence linking abortion and mental health
I recently blogged about an adjournment debate in the House of Commons in which Nadine Dorries MP spoke…
New evidence that patients in ‘Permanent Vegetative State’ may be consciously aware
A method of communicating with brain damaged patients who appear to be in a permanent vegetative state has been discovered by scientists in the UK and Belgium and reported in the Lancet online today, 10 November. Out of sixteen patients diagnosed in the vegetative state, three could repeatedly and reliably respond to two distinct commands, […]
New review highlights positive benefits of marriage
The Family Education Trust has just highlighted a report from the Institute of American values which is of huge relevance here given that the government intends to undermine the distinctiveness of marriage by legalizing same-sex marriage. Based on a survey of over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles on marriage and family life from around the world, […]
Opt in or opt out for organ donation? Pressure grows for change
There have been growing demands this week for the introduction of a system of organ donation across the UK in which everyone is automatically placed on the organ donor register. This would mean that, unless people specifically opted out, hospitals would be allowed to use their organs for transplants on their death. Monday saw the […]
Euthanasia of woman with advanced dementia in Netherlands sounds loud warning to Britain
A 64-year-old woman suffering severe senile dementia has been euthanised in the Netherlands – even though she was no longer able to express her wish to die. The unnamed woman was a long-term supporter of euthanasia and had made a written statement when she was still well, saying how she wished to die. But the […]
Practising compassion and justice
Having just got back from a two day conference in the Netherlands on researching and teaching spiritual care for nursing students, I was once again confronted on my return to our island shores by more stories about the failures of even the most basic care in our country. Indeed, one of the features of all […]
Some good news from Europe
The economic crisis in the Eurozone is dominating headlines, but it has not all been bad news from Europe. Hidden in the media reporting from Europe at the end of last week was some encouraging news about an ECHR ruling that upholds a ban in Austria on using donor egg and sperm for IVF. Interestingly, […]
Another study showing a strong link between abortion and mental health problems
I’m grateful to AAPLOG for drawing my attention to yet another study showing a strong link between abortion and mental illness. The paper, titled ‘Associations Between Abortion, Mental Disorders, and Suicidal Behaviour in a Nationally Representative Sample’ was published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in April 2010 and confirmed ‘a strong association between abortion […]
Pressure grows on David Cameron to support ‘Robin Hood Tax’ ahead of G20 summit
Last week I was one of 70 organisational leaders who signed a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron asking him to support a new international tax at the G20 summit. The letter, pasted below, was delivered last Monday. On 3-4 November the G20 convenes in Cannes as leaders from the world’s major economies gather to […]
Seven billion – BBC brings some welcome balance to the population debate
According to the BBC, when I was born, I was the 2,909,761,661st person alive on Earth and the 76,445,556,695th person to have lived since history began. You can calculate your own number on line and if you put in today’s date you will learn that there have been 83 billion people born since 50,000 […]
New test highlights a stark paradox at the heart of prenatal testing
It is easy to garner opposition to prenatal testing and abortion of fetuses found with a duplicate X-chromosome in each cell. This is a condition commonly diagnosed as “female.” The testing of a fetus to find out its sex, with the aim of aborting it if it is not the ‘right’ or ‘wanted’ gender is […]
Abortion for Down’s Syndrome – tragic story, review of trends and personal reflections
There was a tragic story in the Daily Mail yesterday titled ‘Having an amnio test ruined my life’. It relates the testimony of Marie Ideson who was coerced by doctors into having an abortion for her 16 week old baby with Down’s Syndrome, a decision she now bitterly regrets. The incident led eventually not just […]
Population control lobby seeks to impose its agenda rather than addressing the real causes of poverty
The world’s population is due to pass seven billion on 31 October and campaigners for population control are again using it as an opportunity to promote their agenda. Back in February 2009 Jonathon Porritt (pictured), former chairman of the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission, said that curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must […]