
blogs


Brilliant Resources to help Christians engage with the General Election on 8 June
On 8 June the UK goes to the polls for the general election. Whoever assumes power will have a profound…

Exposing the dark side of egg ‘donation’: the headlines this week should be just the start
At last! The media has finally picked up on the ethical and exploitative mess that is egg ‘donation’.
I…

New study threatens midwives’ freedom of conscience on abortion
In the latest bid to circumvent the increasing number of younger doctors being unwilling to perform…

The importance and credibility of Jesus’ resurrection
Nearly one in four ‘Christians’ do not believe in the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead,…

Egg freezing is not all it’s cracked up to be
A Daily Telegraph article recently asked: ‘Motherhood on ice: has the egg-freezing generation of working…

‘Wrongful Births’: The NHS spends millions in compensation… for babies being born
A recent response by the Government to a Parliamentary question on so-called ‘wrongful birth’ cases…

Organ donation- how can we increase numbers without compromising our ethics?
We are facing an organ donation crisis. The need for organ transplants is currently outstripping the…

Time for new partnerships: the added value of Christian organisations in preventative health
Your health is your true wealth, or so the saying goes. The relationship between health and wealth is…

My Feral Heart: finally, a positive portrayal of Down’s syndrome
“We're not so different, you and me” is the theme of My Feral Heart, a poignant British independent…

Lord Shinkwin’s Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill
In May 2016, Lord Shinkwin, brought his Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill to the House of Lords.
Lord…

Diana Johnson’s radical abortion bill narrowly passes first hurdle but is unlikely to become law
You can listen to my Premier Radio interview on this bill here.
Today, Monday 13 March 2017, Diana…
155 animal-human embryos created in the UK – we think
An apparently straightforward question to government last week (20 July) generated an apparently straightforward reply. Lord Alton asked how many ‘cybrid’ embryos (cytoplasmic animal-human hybrid) have been generated with eggs from non-human species in total. The reply was: ‘The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the most recent information it holds shows […]
BMJ features CMF after playing a role in its inception over sixty years ago
I see that the British Medical Journal this week has featured the Christian Medical Fellowship in its ‘lobby watch’ column. Apparently CMF is a lobby group. The article mainly focuses on the case of Richard Scott, a Christian doctor who is awaiting a hearing with the General Medical Council for talking about his Christian faith […]
CMF responds to the BMJ
Whilst we are grateful to the BMJ for its attention, the 650 word article about the Christian Medical Fellowship in this week’s ’Lobby Watch’ devotes 412 words to one of our 5,000 members, 127 words to one course we run and only 111 words to CMF itself. Readers will learn much more about us from […]
BMA’s 180 degree turn to embrace what it once called ‘the greatest crime’
On 25 June in a blog titled ‘BMA still not listening to public or science on late abortion’ I reported on the vote at the British Medical Association annual representative meeting against a motion which sought to provide legal protection for babies at the threshold of viability. Delegates objected to a lowering of the upper […]
Call for new regulatory body on human-animal hybrids ‘mere PR gambit’
I blogged yesterday about UK scientists calling on Parliament to create a regulatory body to approve experiments with animals using human tissue or DNA and gave seven reason why we should we wary of it. I see that Wesley Smith (pictured), of Second Hand Smoke, has called the scientists call a ‘hollow gesture’ and a […]
Whither now for the Millennium Development Goals?
With just over three years left to run, and the body still breathing, the post-mortem on the Millennium Development Goals has begun. Agreed at the UN Millennium Summit 2000, the goals (often referred to as the MDGs) were a global commitment to eight areas of development. These were unusual, because there was a deadline set […]
Seven reasons to be wary of British scientists’ call for expert body to advise on animal-human hybrids
British scientists have said today that a new expert body should be formed to regulate experiments mixing animal and human DNA to make sure no medical or ethical boundaries are crossed. In a new report scientists at the Academy of Medical Sciences are claiming that a new advisory group should be set up under the […]
Is seven billion people too many? More nonsense from the population control lobby
SPUC Director John Smeaton has drawn my attention to an article I missed in last weekend’s Observer titled ‘Beckhams a “bad example” for families’. Now you might wonder why the Beckhams are a bad example. Is it for calling their daughter ‘Harper Seven’? Or their expensive tastes? Or their choice of friends? It’s actually none […]
Medical Students Back Abortion Conscience Rights
“…this is a profession to be proud of” says Anne Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, referring, in some desperation it would seem, to abortion provision. However a new survey published this week in the Journal of Medical Ethics shows that large numbers of medical students take a very different view to […]
New Study of Medical Students Reveals a Strong Support for Freedom of Conscience
A study in the Journal of Medical Ethics published yesterday showed that nearly 50% of medical students support the doctor’s right to conscientiously object to treatments and procedures to which she or he has ethical, moral or religious concerns. Surveying some 733 UK medical students at Cardiff University, King’s College London, Leeds University and St […]
General Medical Council and Medical Defence Union endorse ‘tactful’ offers of prayer by GPs
The GP magazine Pulse reports in an exclusive this week on new guidance from the Medical Defence Union saying that GPs can pray with their patients as long as they ensure patients are ‘receptive’ to the offer. The guidance quotes a letter from Jane O’Brien, GMC Assistant Director for Standards and Fitness to Practise, published in the […]
A life precious to God – how to cope when you find your unborn baby has special needs
There is a deeply heart-warming story in the Daily Mail today (July 18 2011) titled, ‘Doctors told us to abort our little girl as she wouldn’t survive birth – but our little fighter has flourished’ When an ultrasound scan showed ‘a massive tumour covering the entire left chamber of her heart that was restricting blood […]