
blogs


Do Christians divorce at lower or higher rates than others?
It is widely assumed that Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as non-Christians. This ‘fact’…

Trickle of British suicide cases to Dignitas continues as Swiss vote for status quo
Switzerland's parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide this week, rejecting…

Why does God allow suffering?
What causes suffering? Is just fate? Retribution? All in the mind? Random molecules?
These are some…

Patients with dementia and psychiatric illnesses included as Dutch euthanasia cases rise steeply
According to Dutch media reports today, euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2011 increased by 18%…

What do Ludwig van Beethoven, Justin Bieber and Tim Tebow have in common?
A professor in a college ethics class presented his students with a problem. He said, ‘A man has…

Warning to UK – Oregon Health Plan steers patients towards suicide
Members of the pro-euthanasia movement frequently point to the US state of Oregon, which legalised assisted…

BBC article on ‘gay therapies’ is simplistic, misleading and ignores much of the available evidence
Should people with unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction seek professional help? And if so what kind…

Major split in LibCon Coalition over assisted suicide
The Liberal Democrat conference voted yesterday to back the legalisation of ‘medically assisted dying’,…

Liberal Democrats back Dutch style legislation which would lead to 13,000 British euthanasia deaths annually
On Sunday 23 September the Liberal Democrat conference debated and passed a motion on ‘medically assisted…

Abortion after rape – the issues and emotions involved are not as straightforward as most people presume
I was interested to see published this week a statement from the ‘Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant…

Current law supports eugenic abortion for disabled people – our letter in today’s Daily Telegraph
I am one of nine joint signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph today arguing that the success…
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 […]