
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…
Dilnot lays some tentative foundations
Monday saw the publication of the Dilnot Report – the latest in a long line of reports and studies commissioned by government into how we, as a society, are going to care for our growing, and increasingly long lived elderly population. This is more than an academic exercise. A century ago, few people lived long […]
Major British study links premature births to previous abortions
The Times has just reported on new research which shows that women who have had an abortion are more likely to give birth to a premature baby and to suffer several other pregnancy complications when they next conceive. This is hugely significant just as parliament is about to debate an amendment to the Health and […]
Adoption czar: women with unwanted pregnancies should give up babies for adoption
It’s not every day that you hear someone official say something profoundly politically incorrect but true and have it reported by the Times. The Times front page today carried photographs of a whole host of well known celebrities and personalities who were adopted and ran an in depth feature on the issue highlighting a report […]
MPs attack the ‘ingrained bias’ of staff at the BBC on euthanasia
I recently blogged about the BMA vote to undermine the Falconer Commission on assisted suicide and about why I had told the Daily Mail that the BBC was acting as a cheerleader for assisted suicide. I see today that a group of MPs has attacked the ‘ingrained bias’ of staff at the BBC towards a […]
The tip of the iceberg: latest from Developing Health 2011
JachinDanielraj is an inspiring lady. She is an Indian doctor now based at the famous Christian Medical College in Vellore. But she hasn’t always been in this big centre. She spent 13 years in a rural mission hospital, working hard to serve the poor. She told us the story of a child who made her […]
Newly revealed abortion statistics evidence of eugenic mindset and failed teenage sexual health strategy
Today, as a result of losing a six year long court battle to the ProLife Alliance (see my earlier blog), the Department of Health was finally forced to disclose the abortion statistics that it has been hiding since 2002. The Department had been refusing to reveal the abortion numbers in any category where there were […]
A movement has an emotional heart
Is the NHS a philosophy, a movement or just an organisation? It has a philosophy – healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay, and certainly it has organisations, but does it have an emotional heart, the characteristic of a movement according to Seth Godin? Seth, author of the bestselling marketing books of the […]
Vicky Lavy blogs from Developing Health 2011
We’re at the beginning of week two of the Developing Health Course. Week one was packed with 33 hours of excellent teaching – exhausting but very inspiring. We’ve heard about trematodes and trypanosomes, scalp veins and scabies, red eyes and refugees. We’ve learnt about diseases affecting millions of people such as malaria, TB, malnutrition, and […]
Video debate from the BMA on the Falconer Commission
The video below includes coverage of the full day’s business on Thursday’s Annual Representative Meeting of the British Medical Association. Dr Mark Pickering (Yorkshire Regional Councuil) speaks for ARM Motion 305 (from the time mark 1:56) and Wendy Savage speaks against (from time mark 2:01). The full debate and vote then follows Loading…Webcast Available Here […]
British Medical Association undermines credibility of Falconer Commission on Assisted Dying
The British Medical Association, representing 140,000 British doctors, has this morning questioned the stated impartiality and independence of Lord Falconer’s Commission on Assisted Dying, supported the BMA leadership’s stance in not giving evidence to it and called on the British Medical Journal Editorial team to present a balanced and unbiased coverage of the Commission. Delegates […]
This week’s hot topic is not PC
This week’s hot topic is not one many people have thought much about. But organ donation, and particularly ‘presumed consent’ (PC), is one we will all have to start thinking much more about in the next five years. It was one of three debates on Tuesday (28 June) at the BMA, it has been covered […]
BMA still not listening on late abortion
On Tuesday 28 June the British Medical Association annual representative meeting voted against a motion which sought to provide legal protection for babies at the threshold of viability by a two to one majority. The motion, proposed by John O’Driscoll of the Worcestershire division, read as follows:’ That this Meeting believes that the legal limit for […]