
blogs


Scientists make nerve cells directly from human skin bypassing stem cells altogether
Researchers have come up with a recipe for making functional neurons directly from human skin cells,…

Another poll from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (aka DID) to grab headlines
The Voluntary Euthanasia Society, which renamed itself ‘Dignity in Dying’ in 2006 to disguise its…

Nitschke announces his latest scheme to help more Australians kill themselves
I previously commented on a You Tube video of the assisted suicide of a British couple in their 80s who…

Surrogacy raises complex ethical issues
A recent BBC News report, ‘Womb for rent: A tale of two mothers’, highlights the fact that the high…

Medical Defence Union finally publishes full version of new guidance on praying for patients
I recently blogged about new guidance from the Medical Defence Union which endorses tactful prayer with…

£200k of lottery money spent on Reiki like therapy in West Midlands Hospital a waste of time and money
Back in February I reported on a BBC story claiming that ‘a third of NHS trusts still offer homeopathy…

Three exciting news stories about ethical stem cell treatments this month
Three exciting news stories about stem cell therapies – none of which involves the destruction of human…

Two women in their 50s with serious brain damage whose relatives want them dead. One judge has said ‘yes’ but the other is still thinking. Why?
Two cases of women in their 50s with serious brain damage went before the courts this week.
Neither…

Animal-human hybrid embryos – now the government doesn’t even know how many there are
A fascinating article by Philippa Taylor on the official CMF Blog highlights an apparently straightforward…

One baby adoption in the UK for every 2,235 abortions – seven times worse than the US
Bill Reichart is a pastor and area director with CMDA, CMF’s US sister organization. He writes a blog…

What is the true cost of IVF?
For most people thinking about having IVF, the answer will be thousands of pounds. Some may also…
Religion is based on dogma whilst science is based on evidence? No, actually each accommodates both.
Dr Evan Harris has this morning recommended that everyone read an article in the Guardian newspaper on Science and faith titled, ‘Faster than light story highlights the difference between science and religion’. So I did. You are welcome to read it yourself (it is very short) but its main message is encapsulated in the following […]
Landmark High Court ruling maintains legal protection for vulnerable people
The Christian Medical Fellowship has welcomed a landmark ruling by a High Court Judge that a brain-damaged woman should not have her life ended. Known as ‘M’ the 52 year old is in what is known as a ‘Minimally Conscious State’, meaning that she does have some degree of awareness; in effect she is in the […]
BBC report of Stuart Mungall case is factually inaccurate and seriously misleading
Retired actor Stuart Mungall, 71, has today been given a twelve month sentence suspended for two years for smothering his 69-year-old wife Joan Mungall with a pillow at their home in Tooting, south London. The BBC headline reporting the case, ‘Wife-killing Yorkie advert man walks free from court’, is factually inaccurate and seriously misleading but […]
More hype about embryonic stem cells from the BBC
The BBC today is running a new stem cell story with the grandiose title ‘UK medics lead Europe’s first embryonic stem cell trial’ as follows: Doctors at Moorfields Eye hospital in London have been given the go-ahead to carry out Europe’s first clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells. They will inject retinal cells into […]
Global annual cost of tackling non-communicable diseases only 1% of UK Bank Bailout
The BBC has reported on the World Health Organization’s plan to tackle non-communicable diseases like heart disease, which it says now pose a greater global burden than infectious diseases. The plan was published just after the conclusion of the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in New […]
VIDEO: non-communicable diseases top UN General Assembly agenda
For only the second time in its history, the General Assembly of United Nations will be discussing a major global health issue and seeking concerted national action. For the next two days, the only gathering of representatives of all 193 countries in the UN will look at non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in an attempt to tackle […]
George Monbiot and the Guardian conspiracy theory
Guardian columnist George Monbiot contacted us at CMF last Monday to ask about our finances. The Guardian has recently linked CMF and other organisations to financial backers with mega-bucks and right-wing politics in the southern states of America. A chart across a double page spread headlined ‘Abortion debate: Dorries campaign urged to reveal how it […]
Maternal health is a domestic, as well as a global issue
Several stories in recent days illustrate the rather confused priorities of the British government towards maternal health. Yesterday the Royal College of Midwives reported that parts of England are facing shortages of midwives of between ten and 41 per cent – set against the background of a 22% rise in birth rate over the last […]
HIV Prevention – new PEPFAR Strategy is not as radical as it sounds
In the last eight years, the controversial US President’s Emergency Programme Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has pumped billions of dollars into HIV treatment and prevention programmes that has got millions onto ante-retroviral treatment (ART) programmes, and invested heavily in prevention programmes. In 2010 alone, PEPFAR supported treatment for 3.2 million people; averted 114,475 mother-to-child […]
Abortion counselling vote: a defeat but not a loss
Just like the heated debate prior to the vote in Parliament this week on counselling before abortion, the public debate after the vote has been dominated by controversies, claims and counter claims. However, in all of this debate, there has been little coverage of the concern that most people do agree on, that access to […]
Crown Prosecution Service defends assisted suicide policy among accusations of ‘legislation by stealth’
The Times is reporting that the Crown Prosecution Service is clearing the way for assisted suicide by not taking action in cases of assisted suicide. The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer acknowledged that no prosecutions had been made since CPS guidelines were given a year and a half ago. All cases of assisted suicide […]
Germany has independent abortion counselling and an abortion rate less than half of Britain’s
It was refreshing to see Liam Fox, Defence Secretary, saying last night that he would support any measure that lowered the British abortion rate. He and others like him would be well advised to look at the German system. Germany has an abortion rate of 8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 per year. By […]