
blogs


Leadership in pandemics – six principles to guide us
The COVID19 epidemic has thrown nations into complete chaos. Fear and panic have gripped the world.…

Coronavirus and the call to risk
It's the early hours of the morning, and I'm standing in a cholera camp looking at the scene around…

Christianity in a time of plague
Epidemic infections were a source of terror in the ancient world. They would sweep into the cities of…

Coronavirus – responding like Jesus
It is hard to have missed the news that coronavirus is a big thing. Government guidance and press conferences…

Transgender on trial
In March this year judges gave permission for Keira Bell, Susan Evans and a woman known as ‘Mrs A’…

Scottish Government muddles sex and gender – and plans to legalise the confusion
The Scottish Government is consulting on a plan to make the existing process to obtain legal recognition…

RCGP remains opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) announced last Friday [21 February] that it ‘will…

2020: The Year of the Nurse and Midwife
It’s not often that such wide-ranging and global a body as the World Health Organization (WHO) deems…

Transgender: two pivotal points for the UK
Should it be possible for any person to change their legal sex based on their gender identity? And if…

‘I don’t want a baby like that’
The Sunday Times this weekend reported that ‘the number of babies born with Down’s syndrome has fallen…

Human dignity – a perspective from disability
‘In a hyper-competitive culture in which even baking a cake is a fight almost to the death… what…
Maya Forstater wins her appeal – gender-critical beliefs are ‘worthy of respect’
Maya Forstater has today (10 June 2021) won her appeal against the employment tribunal, which ruled that her gender-critical beliefs were ‘absolutist in nature’ and ‘not worthy of respect in a democratic society’. In a statement on YouTube, Forstater said: ‘Gender-critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act, and people who hold those beliefs are […]
‘Don’t bother the midwife’: abortion as a parable for assisted suicide
The current series of Call the Midwife is set in 1966. We dispensed with World Cup fever in about half an episode and are now focussing on other things in the news that year. The most significant of these, from a midwifery perspective, was David Steel’s Abortion Reform Bill which was then going through Parliament. […]
COVAX – Its opportunities and challenges
Early in the pandemic (24 April 2020), long before any manufacturer had a vaccine ready for sale, long before results of trials had been published, a novel collaboration was established to ensure equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines when any became available. This was done under the auspices of the WHO-sponsored ‘ACT accelerator’, supported by […]
Can we vaccinate our way out of the pandemic?
Here in the UK, we have been feeling pretty good about ourselves recently, with (at the time of writing) over 35 million adults having been partially vaccinated and more than 18 million fully vaccinated. In other words, more than two-thirds of the adult population has been at least partially vaccinated (nearly 55 million people), and […]
Assisted suicide debates are back yet again across the British Isles: it’s time for health professionals’ voices to be heard
Despite the backdrop of COVID-19 and the emphasis on caring for the most vulnerable in society, an old issue is firmly back on the political agenda. Assisted dying (assisted suicide and euthanasia) is being debated in different jurisdictions of the British Isles, with some MSPs and MPs planning to bring Private Members’ Bills to Holyrood […]
‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban: a review of the issues
You may be aware of current controversies around the issue of so-called ‘conversion therapy’. But you may be wondering what it’s all about and whether we need to worry about it as Christians and/or medics. This is a debate that, like so many current issues, has become extremely emotive and polarised. The whole issue is […]
The Impact of Gender Identity ‘Conversion Therapy’
What impact has Gender Identity ‘Conversion Therapy’ (GICT) had on gender diverse people? This is the question at the heart of the recently released 2020 ‘Conversion Therapy’ & Gender Identity Survey. The research is the collective effort of five LGBT+ charities and was conducted to provide evidence to the Government and Equalities Office as they […]
DIY abortion: one year on
On this day last year, the UK Government, after a bizarre double-u-turn, made the home an approved ‘class of place’ for early medical abortion up to ten weeks. Women could now obtain both mifepristone and misoprostol after just a phone or video consultation with an abortion provider. The pills would be sent to the woman’s […]
The Ethical Care Decision-Making Record – a cautiously optimistic response
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), together with the General Medical Council (GMC), have just released a new resource; the Ethical Care Decision-Making Record (ECDMR), which aims ‘to help clinicians, patients and their families or carers make decisions together about the levels of care that will be provided when a clinical decision is required.‘ People […]
A Go-To Resource for Christians on Transgender
I first became properly aware of the reality of gender dysphoria and transgender about five years ago. I learnt about what gender dysphoria is and how painful and debilitating it can be. I gained some level of insight into the identity questions and desire for community that are often part of the transgender experience, and […]
Integral mission through palliative care in Nepal
When the first mission workers arrived in Nepal in 1954, Leprosy was endemic and caused much suffering with high levels of disability, social stigma and ostracism from the community. With its mission to serve the poorest and most marginalised, International Nepal Fellowship (INF) opened Green Pastures Leprosy Hospital in 1957. Whilst Leprosy remains an important […]
Organ Trafficking in a Time of COVID
Organ Trafficking in Egypt: ‘They locked me in and took my kidney’. Indonesian woman shocked to find kidney had been removed after working in Qatar. Pakistani police rescue 24 from organ trafficking gang. The organ snatchers: Boy of 12 smuggled into the UK…for gang to sell his body parts on black market. These are just […]